K-Mart
by BlackShadowHorse
Summary: Join K-mart and her adventures with the convoy. Will be Rated T for a while, and then will have some sexual things going on (don't want to give too much away though!) There will be sexual stuff eventually! Alice will join up with the convoy later. Multi-chapter story. Sorry this summary is terrible, but I hope you enjoy my story! BSH don't you dream impossible dreams?
1. Discovering K-Mart

Chapter One- Discovering K-Mart

They were running low on food, and water, and Claire's shoes were worn out. No amount of duct tape was going to be able to repair them again, she thought dryly as she leaned against her yellow Hummer. Carlos, LJ, Chase, Mikey, and Otto were collecting food from the Hannaford. Getting slightly impatient, she turned to the other two men on top of the bus. "I'm going to go check out the K-Mart." She said just loud enough for them to hear, and they nodded. They would have offered to go with her, but the safety of the rest of the convoy was important.

Claire slowly jogged across the parking lot, pulling out her handgun, and switching off the safety mechanism before opening up the door and slipping into the center, her eyes taking in the blood and infected that had already been killed, but by who? She thought, as she tapped a couple of the corpses with her foot to ensure that they were dead before stepping over the bodies. She made her way over to the shoes. "Score," Claire mumbled to herself as she sat down on a bench trying on a pair of sneakers. She prefered sneakers to her army boots.

Claire heard a soft shuffling noise come from inside one of the dressing rooms and she sighed inwardly. "Can't a girl get some shopping done in peace?" She whispered to herself as she tied the laces up on her new shoes and made her way over to the dressing rooms, and pulled open the door. To her surprise, there was a little girl huddled in the corner, whimpering softly and curling up into a ball, trying to make herself even smaller. "Have you been bitten?" Claire asked sharply. The girl shook her head no, and bit her bottom lip, her tears welling up at the redheads sharpness. Claire felt sorry for scaring her and she knelt down on the ground beside the trembling girl, inspecting her closely. She appeared to be about 14 years old, and was severely malnourished. Had she been tempted to lift up the girls shirt, she'd probably be able to count every bone in her body, Claire thought dryly.

The girl pitched herself into Claire's arms, burrowing her head into her chest and started sobbing quietly. Claire was shocked. None of the other survivors had ever taken to her like this, she thought, her eyes going wide as she gently ran her finger through the young blonde's hair. "You're okay now. I promise." Claire murmured softly, kissing the top of the girl's head. Claire reached into her pocket and keyed the walkie talkie. "Hey Carlos. I found a survivor here," Claire said softly. "I'll be over there in a little bit, out." Claire said, and she focused on the girl that had positioned herself in her lap. Claire smiled at the girl. "We need to find you some clothes, and food." Claire said.

"O-okay. " The girl stuttered softly, her voice breaking a bit.

"Do you have a name?" Claire asked, toying with a lock of the girls hair.

"I never really liked it, and my family is dead. " Claire's heart broke for the young girl. Everyone had lost people, but this girl had seemed to lose more than her family. She was losing her identity. Claire ran her fingers up and down the girls spine.

"Do you have a name you'd like to be called?" Claire asked as she moved the girl from her lap, and stood up, wandering the aisles searching for clothes and other items that they'd need along the trip.

After a few moments went by in silence, the girl nodded. "K-mart." She said softly, biting her bottom lip, hoping that the redhead who saved her wouldn't think that it was foolish. The redhead smiled and hugged her gently, being careful not to crush her.

"Well K-mart, my name is Claire, and after we gather things that we need here, I'm going to introduce you to some of my friends, okay?" Claire introduced herself to the younger girl, and finally released her long enough to hand her a few weeks worth of clothes, and packing her a backpack. Claire hesitated, and headed down the electronics section of the store, until she found what she was looking for, an Ipod, a laptop, and a portable DVD player, and she started collecting some DVDs and CDs and began tossing them into the cart. She knew that she'd have to amuse the girl somehow, especially if K-mart decided to ride in the hummer with her, which secretly she was hoping the girl would choose to do.

"Otto. If you want to come in with the kids and let them get stuff, go ahead. " Claire spoke into the walkie talkie, and sighed as she pulled K-mart into a half hug, grabbing the last few items that they'd need for her- a couple of blankets, a sleeping bag and a bag to carry her stuff in.

"Once you meet everyone you can choose where you want to ride, okay?" K-marts head jerked up quickly and a frown crossed over her delicate features, as she struggled to hold back tears that threatened to fall. Claire wondered what it was she'd said.

"Y-you don't want me to stay with you?" K-mart asked, her bottom lip trembling. Claire tensed up.

"Of course I do, I just thought if you liked one of the other adults more, you could choose to stay with them." Claire said trailing off as she opened up the back doors of the hummer, and began loading in the clothes. "Now how about we get you some food!" Claire said, grinning at the younger girl, who nodded. K-mart hadn't dared to go outside and into Hannaford to go get food, but now that she had someone- no- people to protect her she felt a little braver.

Claire picked out a shopping cart, and eyed the girl. "What do you like to eat?" Claire asked, smiling at her new shadow. The girl thought about it, and lead the way down the cereal aisle. She really didn't like to say much, Claire thought to herself, watching the little girl closely to make sure there was no danger, even though the guys had already cleared it. K-mart picked up a box of her favorite kind- fruit loops. And Claire smiled. "Those are my favorite too!" She said cheerfully and placed a few boxes in the cart, before moving to the next aisle where there were all sorts of snacks, and candy, and K-mart began tossing things in. "You stay right here, okay? I'm going to go get some cases of soda, alright?" Claire said, thinking that she could get the shopping done even faster if they could separate a bit.

"No!" The girl let out a yelp, clinging to Claire's legs. She came up to Claire's stomach and Claire spun around reaching for her gun when she heard footsteps running in their direction. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Carlos, who stared at the red headed convoy leader hugging a younger girl, and he chuckled.

"Never thought I'd see the day Redfield." He muttered, squatting down so he was on the girls level. "Hi there, I'm Carlos, what's your name?" He asked softly, causing the curl to bury her face even further into Claire's shirt. She peeked at him, then buried her face again.

"K-mart." She mumbled into the material, her cheeks bright pink.

"You'll have to tell me about that later! " Carlos said chuckling to himself. "You push the cart Claire, I'll load the stuff." He said. "What's next on your list?" He eyed the cereal and candy.

"Soda, juice, energy drinks and water." Claire said, pointing to the next aisle. "Then some canned goods. If you can handle those, K-mart and I will hit up some other things." She smiled at Carlos who nodded.

"Will do." He said, turning down the aisle to collect what the convoy leader asked for. Claire grabbed a small red basket at the front of the store and grabbed some hygienic supplies- tampons, band aids, shaving cream, razors, and even some soap and shampoo just in case, then she picked up a large package of toilet paper only to find Carlos with the cart filled with everything she asked for and more- including coffee. Claire stared at it like it was liquid gold. She hadn't had a cup of coffee since they ran out a couple of weeks ago.

"There's a bunch of smokes in a case over there. Thought we could grab them to, divide them up." Carlos said, motioning towards the front of the store. Carlos got a mischievous look upon his face as he scooped up K-mart, and then set her on his shoulders., causing her her to squeal and giggle. Claire smiled as she watched Carlos pick the lock on the case and start tossing the cigarettes into the cart as well. After clearing the case out, he pushed it over to the hummer, and opened up the hatch in the back, and started stocking the supplies she'd gathered in there.

"Don't worry Claire, we already packed up the deuce. It's packed with food. Most of the survivors are riding with the kids now. " Carlos had spotted Claire's frown. "There was plenty of food in the K-mart. " Carlos set the girl down gently when she reached out for Claire.

"Thanks Carlos, I want to get a few more miles in, there's a motel up the road. Think we'll have time to clear it?" Claire asked looking up at the sky. It looked like it was going to rain. Carlos frowned and looked at his watch.

"If we leave now. Betty's just finishing gathering up some medicine and stuff ." Carlos said, as he closed up the trunk, opening a box of the fruit loops and holding it out to the girl who dove into it, munching happily, mumbling a soft thank you through the mouthful of fur.

Claire and Carlos sat on either side of the girl. "I got a dvd player for my jeep just in case." Carlos said, using his head to motion to the girl.

"Great minds think alike old man." Claire teased him, as she stole a few fruit loops from the box. "I have to take K-mart to see Betty in a little bit, make sure she's healthy. " Claire ruffled the girls hair gently, "Then hopefully the motel still has some running water." Claire grumbled. It had been almost a week since her last shower and she really needed another one.

"There she is now. I'll help her load, we can drive to the motel, then while we clear, K-mart can be checked out." Carlos glanced over at the girl and saw she was sound asleep. Carlos tapped Claire's arm and pointed at K-mart. "She must be exhausted. I'll put her in the front if you get the door, and you can give the order to move out." Carlos said, gently lifting up the girl, yet again surprised by how little she weighed. She couldn't weigh 60 lbs maximum, her shook his head as he gently set K-mart down in the passenger seat, and covered her with the blanket Claire offered.

"Lets hurry up and load Betty up." Claire said nervously. "I don't want to leave K-mart alone." Claire said as she and Carlos jogged over to the ambulance where most of the other adults were located. "We're going to drive to that motel we saw the signs for." Claire said. "Get some beds and a shower for a change- stay there overnight. I don't like the clouds that are starting to come in." Claire said, hoisting the supplies into the ambulance for Betty, and stocking them where they normally went. "I have a girl I want you to check out when we get there Betty. Her name's K-mart. I found her in the dressing room, and she looks terrible." Claire muttered softly as they closed up the back doors and began heading towards the hummer, firing it up and began leading the convoy down the road.

K-mart whimpered in her sleep, snuggling close to the red-headed convoy leader, seeking out her warmth and protection even in her sleep. Claire reached down, gently rubbing circles on the girls back, and the girl fell back into a peaceful sleep. Fifteen minutes later, they reached their destination, and Claire hated to do this but she began shaking K-mart awake gently. "K." Claire said softly. "K-mart." The girl blinked sleepily and shot up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep!" Claire laughed softly.

"It's fine K-mart. I have to bring you to see Betty, then I have to help Carlos and the others clear the motel. " K-mart look petrified at the thought. "I'll be ten minutes tops!" Claire promised and K-mart bit her bottom lip before nodding. "Then we'll get you cleaned up and to bed, okay?" Claire searched K-mart's chocolate eyes and she nodded again, and took Claire's hand as she led the girl to the back of the convoy to the ambulance.

"This is Betty, and she'll take really good care of you, okay?" Claire said, before disappearing to clear the place with Carlos and LJ.

Claire and Carlos finished securing the motel in record time, finding only two zombies in one of the rooms. They both sat in the ambulance and quietly spoke to Betty, every once and a while glancing at K-mart who was munching on a carrot stick. "You need to make sure that she gets a lot of liquids into her tonight before bed. She's extremely dehydrated and underweight. " Betty said, studying K-mart carefully. "She has lots of cuts that I tried to clean, but they'll need to have the bandages changed later. I'm worried about infection." Betty said, handing the bandages to Claire.

"Okay. I can handle that." Claire said softly, and stifled a yawn. She still hadn't slept in over 24 hours and she was tired. as hell. Carlos had already put K-mart onto his shoulders, making the girl giggle. Claire chose some clothes out of the back, and some dinner for her and K-mart then headed to the room at the end, where the girls showered, dressed, ate their dinner, and passed out for the night.

AN: I was going to keep going, but I had to end chapter one some where! I hope you enjoyed chapter one. I'll try to post chapter 2 tomorrow or monday (depends on my schedule which changes every day!)


	2. The First Night

Chapter Two- K-Marts First Night

Claire finally had managed to get the newest member of the convoy cleaned, fed, and to sleep. She felt like she was going to drop at any moment now, and she climbed into the bed across from the young blonde and wiggled underneath the blankets, her eyes closing. Soon enough, she was asleep. Not for long though.

A couple of hours had passed an a scream echoed throughout the room, and most of the motel. Claire shot up, pulling out her pistol and pointed it towards K-Mart. The girl was sitting up in her bed, completely drenched in sweat, shivering. "Fuck." Claire groaned setting the gun back down. Claire's room door slammed open, and Carlos was there, pointing his gun at Claire.

"You guys okay? We all heard the scream." Carlos said, pointing his gun back towards the ground, flipping the safety on and his eyes drifted over the young blond. Claire nodded, flicking her eyes towards the girl. She'd never had anyone to take care of, she was always the one that was taken care of by her older brother. "Carlos here, everythings clear. False alarm. Out." He said softly into the walkie talkie and began to take off his vest and boots. He walked across the room and into the bathroom, gathering a washcloth and wetting it before sitting down in front of K-Mart and gently dabbing at her face and arms. The girl was sobbing silently, still not having said a word. "Don't worry, you're safe here," He murmured softly and the girl threw herself into his arms.

"Claire, can you help her into some new clothes?" Carlos asked, studying the shivering blonde in his arms. "I'll be right back." He tucked a lock of the girls hair behind her ear, and looked at Claire. Claire stood up and started digging through her pack. She didn't think of bringing up another change of clothes for the girl. She sighed and took out one of her own tee-shirts and helped K-mart out of her own clothes- her earlier assessment of the girl was right. Claire could see everyone of her ribs sticking out through her skin, causing Claire to wince. Sure, things were tight around the convoy, but no one under her watch went without. Claire gently tugged her tee shirt down, it covered K-Mart to her knees.

Balling up K-marts wet, sweaty clothes, she tucked them into a bag full of dirty clothes. She'd seen a washer and dryer downstairs, she'd have to see if it was still working, she thought dryly. She wasn't too excited about staying here for another day, but so far it was safe. Claire thought, assessing the situation. This time a soft knock came from the door. "Come on in Carlos." Carlos entered quietly with his duffel bag.

Carlos had became like a protector, and a trusted advisor in the first few days she'd met him. He was certainly attractive, but she knew she didn't stand much of a chance with him. His attentions were elsewhere, and on a girl Claire knew she couldn't compete with. "Scoot your ass over Redfield." Carlos muttered dryly, biting his tongue to keep from stating Claire's foolishness for leaving the girl to sleep alone in her own bed tonight, as he scooped up the girl and made his way over to the queen sized bed. Claire raised an eyebrow but moved over to the edge of the bed, and Carlos gently set the girl down before climbing in beside them, K-mart snuggled in to both of them, savoring the heat, and the protection that they both offered.

Claire yawned softly, wrapping her arms around the girl and burrowed her face into the girl's hair, inhaling her soft strawberry scent from the soap before attempting to drift back to sleep. She knew she'd have to be on guard because it looked like the two of them would be having a shadow for quite some time. Carlos was already asleep again when Claire looked over, ready to ask him a question, but seeing him and K-mart out like a light, she decided that it could wait until tomorrow,. She inhaled deeply again, and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep once more.

AN: Okay, this was a short chapter (shorter then most I write, but don't worry, this more to come- hopefully today!) Thank you very much for your review PrincessLia, I hope I meet your expectations with the story! Don't worry about Carlos, he's in love with someone else, not Claire. Besides, K-mart worships both of them, so it's only right that they both comfort her! Anyway, as usual I hope you guys enjoy. BSH~ _Don't you dream impossible dreams?_


	3. The Next Morning

Before I forget all the important stuff, I don't own any of the characters, and I'm only taking them out to play. Also PrincessLia, I can't exactly tell you who Carlos is head over heels for- it could be Alice, or I could have other plans for him! Either way, I had to make Claire a little weak at first. She's 19 years old, her life as she knew it is over, she has no idea what she's doing with this girl she rescued with Carlos. She's never had someone rely on her before, so she didn't just stick her toes in the water with the whole role model thing, she jumped in the deep end. The only question is, will she sink or swim in her role? She has good instincts though, so the rest of the people in the convoy are willing to trust her while she's figuring out the whole leader thing, and she's going to have to find the balance between being K-Mart's protector, and convoy leader.

Chapter Three: The Next Morning, Meet the Convoy

Claire stretched out, she was nice and warm for a change, snuggling even closer to her source of heat. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so good, she absently thought, her shirt riding up showing off her pale stomach. Carlos was sitting up, his head buried inside of a book he'd picked out for K-mart while shopping, his eyebrows raised as he read about 10 year old wizards. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd be doing this. He'd never considered kids, his life before was too dangerous working for Umbrella, and there was no guarantee that he'd survive the missions he was sent on. Now that the world was coming to an end, there was no way in hell there'd be any chance of bringing a kid into the world, he thought and he gently ran his fingers through the girls hair, gazing at Claire curiously as she watched him. Carlos tried to ignore Claire's stare, and he sighed softly. "You know, if you take a picture it will last longer," Carlos joked, his eyes continuing to scan the words on the page, and when he finished the page he was on, he set it down on the night stand beside him.

"I have no idea what I'm doing Carlos." Claire confessed to him, her green eyes searching his face for answers. "I've never been good with kids, what if I mess up, or fail her?" Claire looked down at the sleeping girl and climbed over her, snuggling into Carlos so they could talk softly without disturbing K-Mart. Carlos wrapped an arm around her thoughtfully.

"It's going to be rough Claire. You never asked for this, but shes going to be looking to the both of us. We're going to have to teach her to survive in this world. Things won't always be perfect, but they'll be better than where we found her. She won't go without, and she'll have family and friends within the convoy." Carlos said, playing with a few strands of hair before he shifted. "Now go back to your corner, I'm gonna go shower. I didn't get to last night." Carlos ruffled her hair gently and grabbed his bag, heading into the bathroom.

Claire smiled, and snuggled back into the younger girl. Carlos knew exactly what to say to her to make her feel better. And he was right, she would be safe here, and find friends among the convoy. She'd have people to protect her, especially if her and Carlos had failed to, Claire thought, biting down on her bottom lip. She didn't even want to consider that option. It wasn't even on the table, she told herself sharply as she climbed over K-mart once more. She wouldn't go without as long as she could help it, Claire promised herself, as she closed her eyes again, and drifted back to sleep until she felt the dip in the bed again, Carlos going back to reading the book he picked up. "What the hell has your attention old man?" Claire teased him gently, peeking at the cover.

"Oh, I picked this up for K-Mart to read," He said, his cheeks turning red. "I just figured it would be good to pass the time with." He mumbled. "It's the first Harry Potter book. It's not too bad actually." He commented, and glanced down at the brown eyes looking up at him. "Morning sleeping beauty." Carlos said softly, his eyes searching her face. "You hungry?" He asked closing the book and setting it down in his lap. The girl nodded and buried her face into Claire's neck, causing him to smile.

"Claire, if you go down and get her bag, I'll watch K-Mart for a bit." Carlos offered, "Then we can take her to meet the rest of the convoy and get her some breakfast, and we can decide what our plans for the day are." Carlos glanced at Claire, studying her and she nodded.

"Absolutely." Claire hopped up wandered outside to greet the rest of the convoy who was starting to build fires outside.

Once alone Carlos studied the girl. "So, what would you like to do today? Would you like to watch some movies? Read? Hang out with me and Claire?" Carlos asked K-Mart who had climbed into his lap once Claire had gone. She'd been staring at the door.

"Is she gonna come back?" K-Mart asked in a tiny voice. Her parents had walked out the door, and had never came back. She cried softly into the soldier's chest.

"Of course she is!" Carlos said, rocking the girl gently. "I promise she'll be back in ten minutes or less." He said softly, gently rubbing small circles on the girls spine. "Have you ever read Harry Potter?" Carlos glanced down at the girls tear streaked face, and K-Mart shook her head no. Carlos grinned at her. "Well how about I start reading to you!" He said cheerfully, and he scooped up the book and opened it. "Mr and Mrs. Dursley, or number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much," Carlos began. K-Mart had been so distracted she didn't notice when Claire had returned.

She'd been leaning up against the door, listening to Carlos read, a smile on her face as she studied the tough as nails soldiers taking his time to read a book to the younger girl, who was all snuggled up extra close. "He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter- the boy who lived!" Carlos finished and placed a bookmark in the book. "That's it for now kiddo." Carlos said and shifted her out of his lap.

"Claire!" K-Mart said, and tackled the slender redhead. Claire let out a soft "oomph." as she dropped the bag to catch the girl. "Carlos was reading to me, but I missed you!" The girl burrowed her face into the leaders stomach.

"Well I got your clothes, why don't you go and get dressed?" Claire handed the bag to the girl, her cheeks pink from all the attention she was getting from her. She wasn't used to it, that was for sure. K-Mart bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. "We'll wait right here until you're done." Claire promised as she sat down on the bed stretching out again.

"Okay," K-Mart finally said, clinging to her bag and going to bathroom, taking care of her business, and dressing before returning to the two adults. Claire opened the door and stepped out of the motel room, followed by Carlos who had already scooped up the girl, placed her on his shoulders and carried the gear out to the hummer.

"Now, what would you like for breakfast?" Carlos asked, surveying the food stock. K-mart pointed to the box of fruit loops, and Carlos handed it up to the girl who rested the box on the top of his head, before continuing on his journey to the army truck where he joined Claire in line for coffee. "Hey Otto," Carlos greeted. "K-mart, this is Otto, he drives the school bus, and helps pass out food to the other survivors. Otto, this is K-mart." Carlos introduced the two, and K-mart hid behind her box of cereal, before waving shyly.

"It's very nice to meet you K-Mart!" Otto said with a smile. "Here you go Carlos, Claire." He handed them a thermos filled with hot coffee, and Claire handed him a couple of packs of cigarettes.

"We found some yesterday in the Hannaford." Claire said, smiling up at the bus driver, before continuing on her patrol around the camp. "Hey Chase," Claire tilted her head back as she gazed at the cowboy on top of the tanker. "Hows things looking up there?" Claire asked.

"Not an infected in sight!" Chase said rather cheerfully, and climbed down the small ladder. "Heard about you little lady." Chase said, setting his cowboy hat on the girls head. "Your K-Mart. I wanted to welcome you to the convoy." Chase grinned as the brim of his hat dipped over the girl's Miss Redfield." Chase said before climbing back up on top of the tanker to keep a look out and bask in face. Claire shook her head and handed Chase a few packs of cigarettes as well. "Well thank you the sun's warm rays.

"This is the Redfield Convoy, broadcasting to you from Western Massachusetts. Are there any survivors?" A man with dirty blond hair sat in the back of a news van, broadcasting out to see who was in the area.

"Hey Mikey, have you heard anything?" Claire asked him, leaning against the door of the vehicle, running her hand through her red hair.

"Nothing Claire, been that way for a couple days now. Only a matter of time before we hear from some other people. Anyway, I heard we were staying here today?" Mikey asked, eyeing the former Umbrella soldier who carried the newest convoy addition on his shoulders. He would have definitely made a great dad, Mikey thought to himself but didn't dare say anything out loud for fear of offending Carlos, or even worse, reminding him of something that he'd never be able to have because of the virus outbreak he shook his head and let out a sigh.

"Just keep at it Mikey," Claire said softly, squeezing the boy's shoulder. "Anyway, this is K-Mart, we found her yesterday as everyone seems to know. I swear gossip travels 100 times faster than it used to," Claire rolled her eyes. "It's worse than a small town." Claire said in mock outrage.

"Hey Claire, there's no sign of those zombie ass mother fuckers, so are we gonna bunk down here for a couple of days?" LJ came up to the group, his gold plated desert eagles glistening in the sunlight. K-Marts eyes went wide at the language and Claire glanced up at the girl.

"I better not hear you say that." Claire said to the girl teasingly, standing up on tiptoe and tilting the cowboy hat up and out of K-mart's face. "Anyway, does everyone seem to be set for the day? Carlos and I were gonna go sit in the Hummer, maybe watch a movie or something with K-mart, give everyone some time to relax. I'll take the afternoon shift, and then tomorrow we'll hit the road, head north to Maine, before swinging back down and heading south. I don't want to be caught up north in winter." Claire said thoughtfully.

"I agree. We'd need a lot more supplies, and without a snow plow on one of the trucks, we'd be sitting ducks up there, and be trapped." K-mart sat on Carlos's shoulders quietly, before wrapping up the cereal and holding the box down to the soldier. "All done?" Carlos asked.

"Yes." K-mart said softly and the trio turned back towards the hummer. When they reached the car, Claire folded down the seats so it made a giant bed, something she'd came up with when she'd been adding reinforcements to the machine.

"In you go kiddo." Carlos said, setting K-mart onto the back seat and she looked slightly panicked.

"You aren't leaving are you?" She looked up at the soldier who'd rescued her.

"Just going to go get some movies while you hang out with Claire. I'll be less then five minutes." Carlos promised and exchanged a dark look with Claire. If K-mart was this attached to both of them, how was she going to handle tomorrow, when they had to split up so Carlos could drive the truck.

Claire climbed in beside K-mart, and she hugged the blonde girl to her chest for a moment, remembering her conversation with Betty this morning while Carlos took K-mart over to his truck to stow away his bags.

You're really lucky you found her when you did Claire. I don't think the girl would have lasted another 12 hours in that dressing room. I'm afraid her organs were going to shut down in the middle of the night, Claire shook her head. K-mart really had someone on that side, Claire thought to herself, as she laid down on her stomach, leaning over and setting the DVD player up, and Carlos returned climbing in beside the girls, setting out a ton of choices of kids movies, and K-mart was immediately drawn to the one she had begged her mother to let her see only two weeks ago. K-mart pointed to Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron. "That one." K-mart said, smiling a bit.

Carlos had smiled, and popped in the DVD, pressing play then settled in for the first of many movies that day. When bedtime came that night, without hesitation, K-mart climbed in bed beside Claire, yawning widely and snuggling in close to the red head. No nightmares disturbed the newest convoy member.


	4. Birthday Girl and the Beacon of Light

Disclaimer and Authors Note: I don't own anything Resident Evil. I do however take the characters out to play, before tucking them back into their safe haven. Dan, and Hunter belong to me, though I'm debating what to do with those two as they're more.. filler characters then permanent fixtures. All errors in here are my own, as this story is mostly a first draft, I usually edit a bit as I go but I don't go over the story over and over again- though I probably should as it would make everything flow more consistently. kluve, PrincessLia, and angelsgir, thanks for the reviews, as usual I'll try to keep things moving around at a fairly…. decent speed to keep you guys from getting bored! So for a while, it's just going to be events, milestones. I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head, but no idea how to place them! For this chapter, we're skipping ahead a few of months to K-Mart's birthday!

Chapter Four: Birthday Girl and Beacon of Light

K-Mart had been with the Convoy for almost three months now, and had settled into a nice routine. Every morning when she'd wake up, she'd trail after Carlos, helping him collect wood for a fire. Then she'd sit up on the deuce with Carlos and Otto, assisting them with passing out food for the convoy until Claire came. Once Claire came for her daily cup of coffee and breakfast, K-Mart would trail after Claire like a shadow, following Claire on her rounds and usually talking a mile a minute about little things, and sometimes nothing at all. Today however was different. K-Mart could pick up the tension in the air, even if she wasn't aware what was about to happen.

"You ready for today's raid old man?" Claire teased Carlos, even though he was only a few years older than she was. K-Mart tensed. She knew what a raid was. Usually it was small scale, a store here and there along the road that they were traveling.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of targeting a whole mall though Claire. There's only a handful of us that would be able to clear the area." Carlos muttered, gazing about the convoy, counting the adults that could go with them. "You, Chase, LJ, Hunter, Dan, and myself," Carlos mused out loud. "Betty, Otto, Mikey, and Tuck would have to stay with the bus." Carlos stared at K-Mart for a moment, before lifting the girl up and setting her in his lap, toying with her long blonde hair. "I still don't like the idea of that though, leaving them with so little protection." Carlos glanced over at the red headed convoy leader.

"I'm sure they can handle it, after all we wouldn't be too long. It's not a huge shopping mall, and if we can secure it, we could probably manage to stay there for a couple of days." Claire thought it over for a moment. "Did Mikey figure out what stores were in there?" She asked, sipping on her usual morning cup of coffee, her green eyes soft as she watched Carlos with K-Mart.

"Yeah. There was a smoke shop, shoe store, a clothing store, sporting goods, electronics, and a couple of kids stores. What caught my eye was the military surplus store. " Carlos grinned at her, and he stole a small handful of K-Mart's cereal, gently bouncing her on his knee. He knew that K-Mart's birthday was tomorrow, so he was trying to think of a good gift to give the girl. He'd never shopped for a girl before, so he'd have to talk to Claire about what girls K-Mart's age would like. "When do you want to get on the road?"

"In about thirty minutes." Claire said thoughtfully. "Gives everyone time to put out the fires, get packed up, and get everyone in their cars. You make the announcement, and I'll put out our fire, and get K-Mart settled in the Hummer." Claire grinned, offering her back to the girl who immediately climbed on, her arms wrapping around Claire's neck with a giggle.

She'd already began to fill out more, her ribs her not nearly as pronounced as they used to be when they'd first found the girl , her eyes were bright, and her hair shiny. She was almost back to a semi normal weight. Well… normal for their living conditions anyway, Claire thought, as she began walking towards the Hummer, having people extinguish the fires that they had going, and having them head to their vehicles. "So K, what do you want for your birthday?" Claire asked the girl as she set her down by the Hummer.

K-Mart thought for a few moments. "A new journal." K-Mart declared, as she sat down in the front seat of the Hummer, Claire nodded as she buckled the soon to be teenager in.

"Anything else?" Claire asked, brushing a lock of blonde hair from K-Mart's face., staring into her chocolate eyes, watching as K-Mart thought long and hard if she wanted anything else before she nodded.

"New shoes." K-Mart said after looking down at her sneakers that were pretty worn out. Claire nodded.

"We'll see what we can do." Claire said, ruffling the younger girl's hair. Birthdays weren't something that the convoy celebrated usually, but Claire tried to take care of the younger kids wants, and needs. "Can you sit here for just a few minutes K? I just want to go pick out a movie for you to watch when we go to clear the mall." K-Mart nodded slowly. Claire didn't really like to leave K-Mart for long periods of time, "I'll hurry back." Claire promised, and jogged over to Carlos's truck, climbing in and selecting the first Harry Potter movie for the girl to watch.

"Got what you wanted?" Carlos asked, surprised to see Claire stretched over his seat, her ass in the air. He oogled her a bit before shaking his head and looking away and clearing his throat, he couldn't help it, he was a man.

"Yeah. I found the Harry Potter movie. You got K on a kick with that. She loved the book. " Claire said with a little laugh. "She can't wait until you start the second one." Claire slid down from the truck. "Is everyone ready to go?" Claire asked, wondering why Carlos was blushing but shook it off. God only knew with him, she thought, shaking her head.

"Yeah, just waiting on you." Carlos said, and Claire nodded, jogging back over to Hummer and she keyed up the walkie talkie. "Hey everyone, fire it up, I want to have that mall cleared before noon!" Claire said, and she turned on the Hummer, and started onto the road.

"Claire?" K-mart asked softly, gazing out at the empty land. They hadn't seen any new survivors in over a week. "Do you think there's anyone else out there?" The younger girl mused aloud.

"Of course K. There's probably tons of people out there, just waiting for this to be over. People hiding out, and people on the move just like us." Claire said, ruffling the blonde's hair gently. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find some new survivors soon. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But soon." Claire placed a hand on the girl's leg and gently squeezed, before mumbling to herself that there had to be more people.

Claire focused on the road and an hour later Mikey's voice filled the Hummer. "Claire, this is Mikey. You want to take the next exit, and the mall will be about 300 feet on your left. Over." Mikey said, and she took the turn before spotting the parking lot for the mall and pulling in. So far there was no sign of any infected. Claire shut off the Hummer. "Lets go K." Claire said as she opened the door, grabbing the dvd she'd picked out earlier.

K-mart turned an odd shade of green. "G-go?" She stuttered. "You don't mean clear with you guys do you?" She looked absolutely sick at the thought, and Claire raised an eyebrow.

"You don't honestly think I'd put you at risk do you?" Claire stared at her for a moment. "You're gonna stay with Mikey in the news van and hang with him while we clear the area. Then we're going to do a little shopping together." Claire grinned at the girl, kissing the top of her forehead.

"Sorry Claire, that was kinda silly of me, wasn't it?" K-Mart asked as she grabbed her blanket and trailed after the redhead as she popped open the back of the van's doors.

"A little. But don't worry, I would've asked the same questions too." Claire said, smiling down at the girl. "Here Mikey, will you pop this in for K. You're going to stay here, and watch her. We haven't seen any infected but, don't let your guard down." Claire issued then smiled at K-mart. "Carlos and I'll be back soon okay?" K-Mart nodded and hugged Claire tight before the redhead closed the doors and walked back to the Hummer where all the adults (minus Mikey) stood, their weapons loaded and ready for orders.

"Betty, Otto, you're going to be on the bus with the kids. Tuck, I want you either on the bus or on the tanker. I want you sniping." Claire said, studying the soldier she'd picked up a few weeks ago. "Yes Ma'am." He said, and jogged into position. "Carlos, LJ, Dan, you take the top floor. Start on one end, go store by store, pick any undead off. "Chase, Hunter you're with me. We'll take the first floor.

K -Mart stared out the window, watching as the older convoy members disappeared into the mall, her stomach twisting a bit, and Mikey climbed in the back with her. "So K, I guess Claire brought you the first Harry Potter movie." Mikey grinned a bit at the younger girl, her eyes sparkling. "Wanna watch it with me? I've wanted to see this movie forever!" Mikey said cheerfully, in hopes of distracting the girl. "Though you'll have to explain parts of the movie to me."

"I can do that." K-Mart said as she snuggled into the man she'd considered to be more like an older brother and best friend.

Claire and Carlos returned, there hadn't been that many infected in the mall, maybe a dozen tops, Claire thought as she unloaded her shotgun, and had placed it back under the front seat of the Hummer. She preferred a handgun to that beast of a weapon, she thought absentmindedly as she sat down on the hood of Carlos's truck. "So, you given any thought as to what you're gonna get K for her birthday?" Claire asked Carlos, and Carlos nodded.

"Yeah, I found something for her in the army store." Carlos said with a grin, his eyes sparkling. "I have to go down to the hardware store though to finish it." He mused to himself. Claire looked at him curiously.

"So, what is it?" Claire hated surprises, she thought to herself, even if they were someone else, and Carlos knew it, and he just grinned and strolled over to the news van climbing into the back with K-mart and Mikey. Claire groaned a bit and trailed after him, mumbling something about him being an ass, and he just laughed softly, snuggling the blonde girl close to him for a moment.

"So K, the big 13 is coming up, what did you want for your birthday?" Carlos asked her, toying with a few strands of her hair, and K-mart glanced over at him before focusing on the screen again. "I was hoping for a new journal and some sneakers. My old journal is almost filled, and my sneakers are kind of worn. Plus they make my feet hurt when I put them on." K-mart grumbled a bit.

Carlos nodded. "Claire and I will do our best to make sure you get them." Carlos ruffled her hair. "Do you want to finish the movie with Claire and Mikey? I have to go pick up a few things." Carlos said and K-mart nodded.

"It's getting to the really good part, where Harry's going to meet Lord Voldemort for the first time! He's the bad guy Mikey." K-mart had explained to him. Carlos disappeared while the blonde had been distracted and headed back into the army store. He had less than 24 hours to complete his gift for K-mart he thought as he jogged down the empty halls. Most of the convoy had been setting up sleeping bags in the main entrance to the mall, and had raised an eyebrow when Carlos had went running past and they shook it off. It seemed like he was always in a rush lately.

When the movie was over, K-mart stretched and yawned, snuggling into Claire's lap for a few minutes. "I'm sleepy," K-mart mumbled into Claire's neck, her breath hot on her skin. Claire smiled at the girl.

"Dinner first, then you can sleep." Claire said as she set the girl down, climbing out of the van and grabbing a couple of cans out of the back of the hummer. "Fruit cocktail." Claire said, sitting down beside the girl, feeling a little sleepy herself as she popped open the can, and handed the girl a spoon. When dinner was done, Claire handed K some wet wipes to let her wash up a bit, and the girl shuffled into the mall with her sleeping bag, passing out next to where Carlos and Claire had already laid theirs. "Mikey." Claire whispered softly. "Watch K for a bit, I have to go pick up a couple of things," She murmured as she disappeared in the direction of the kids stores.

Morning had came rather quickly, and both Carlos and Claire had returned at approximately the same time, Carlos with a small package, and Claire with a messenger style bag. They each studied each other for a moment and set their bounty beside him, curling up in their sleeping bag for the few minutes they'd have before everyone started to stir and had wanted to explore. Carlos sighed when he realized that he couldn't sleep, and he absently wondered if he'd picked the right thing to give to K-mart. He bit his bottom lip and looked deep in thought for a few moments, before his eyes lit up and he went back towards the kids stores he found earlier, and he'd grabbed some things off the shelves, returning to find K-mart snuggled up to Claire, both wide awake and talking to each other.

"Hey sleeping beauty." Carlos teased the younger girl, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Happy Birthday." He said softly, handing her his presents. K-mart slowly opened them, the first gifts being a couple of sketchpads, some charcoal pencils, colored pencils and markers. "I know you like to draw." Carlos said looking away for a moment as she began to unwrap his second gift. The girl stared at it in her hand, tears welling up in her eyes.

It was a set of dog tags, just like Claire's and Carlos's. There were three tags on this necklace however, the first had her name engraved on it, the second had Claire's and the third had Carlos's. "I love it!" The girl squealed a bit- waking up the few remaining members of the convoy who'd still been sleeping, and the blush on Carlos's cheeks deepened, but it was obvious that he'd been very pleased that he'd made the right decision, he thought to himself.

Claire had pretty much been thinking along the same lines as Carlos had been with the art stuff. She'd gotten her the journal and sneakers like K had asked for, but had also visited the same store that Carlos had, getting some paints, and art pads that were thick enough to support the paints, some paint brushes, and an art case.

"Guess great minds do really think alike Boss lady." Carlos said, watching as K-mart had thrown her arms around Claire, smiling to himself as he studied the pair for a moment, and he laid back down for a few minutes. "Today's your check up, so go see Betty." Carlos reminded her.

"This is honestly the best birthday ever. Thanks you guys," K-mart said softly, before running off to go see Betty for her weekly check up.

"How did you know K liked our dog tags?" Claire asked, looking down at the tags she usually kept hidden beneath her tank top.

"I caught her staring at ours a couple of times." Carlos shrugged. "I found a set of blank tags down at the army store, and it was a bitch to work the engraver. I messed up on the first two sets." Carlos confessed, grinning sheepishly, as Chase came over, handing the pair two large mugs of coffee.

"You guys didn't get back until late." Chase said as we walked off. He didn't usually have much to say to the other adults, but would talk to the kids for ages, telling them stories about the farm where he lived, or sit in silence, just gazing off into the distance. He'd taken a real shine to two orphaned brothers they'd picked up about three months before they'd found K-mart.

"Guess this means that we won't be sleeping." Claire grumbled good naturedly, and she wandered off to the ambulance and climbed in to talk to Betty as soon as K-mart had exited. "So how is she?" Claire asked worriedly as she glanced out to where K-mart was playing with some of the other convoy kids.

"K-mart's doing so much better. I'd like to see her gain a couple more pounds, but almost everyone here is underweight." Betty said shaking her head a bit. "LJ and I gathered up all the medical supplies we could find last night, and Chase and Hunter loaded up all the ammo. I saw Dan grab a bow and some arrows tossing them in the back of the deuce. Otto gathered up all the food supplies he could find. He also cleared out the smoke shop." Betty said with a grin. "The back of the deuce is completely full. We'll be all set on supplies for a few weeks, at least unless we pick up more survivors." Betty said, and paused a bit. "So far everything's been safe, we only saw two infected last night, and they were both taken care of."

Claire nodded a bit as she digested the information. "I guess that it would be okay to stay here for a few days, as long as we don't touch any supplies in the truck. We'll use whatever didn't fit in the trucks, this way we'll be all set." Claire said, sighing as she watched K-mart. " I just wish I could provide some sort of normalcy for everyone here. If we stay in one place too long, the infected become drawn to us. " Claire scuffed her foot against the bottom of the ambulance.

"Claire, I don't think there'll ever be such a thing as "normal" again. I think the best that you can do now, is provide food, shelter, family, and hope to this convoy. Just look at K-mart. When you and Carlos found her, no one suspected that she'd survive that first 24 hour period. Now look at the girl. You can't keep her away from the two of you for long," She pointed to where K-mart was on top of Carlos's shoulders, giggling at something that LJ had said. "She's pretty healthy, she's almost always happy- she provides hope for everyone in the convoy, but she also keeps you and Carlos grounded. She's like your rock. " Betty mused more to herself then to Claire. "Before K-mart you didn't say more than 15 words to anyone in the convoy other than to bark orders at everyone. Now you're more relaxed. Carlos- he was all work and he'd never hang around anyone but LJ." Betty spoke softly, and squeezed Claire's shoulder. "K-mart is our beacon of light." Betty said and wandered off, leaving Claire to gather her thoughts.

AN (again!) So I was trying to decide what to give K-mart for her birthday, and to me, the dog tags are a constant reminder that the person is always with you and it would bring you comfort and reassurance if for example Carlos or Claire were ever to go missing, or something would happen to them, or they got separated from each other. The tags that Claire carry belongs to her brother (they aren't her own!) and Carlos's tags are his from his stint with Umbrella. My vacation is coming to an end so my everyday postings probably will be too, but I'll try and post at once a week once my vacation is over, if not twice.

BSH~ Don't you dream impossible dreams?


	5. K-mart's Troubles

AN: Happy New Years everyone!

It had been two months since her birthday, and K-mart gathered up her bag. Claire had finally managed to find a motel for everyone to stay at, that had working hot water. It was like heaven for most of the convoy, and K-mart was ecstatic. She dropped her bag on the sink board, and started to lay out clothes for her shower, and as she stepped from her clothes she looked down at her underwear, and saw blood. A lot of it. She screamed loudly, louder than any scream that she'd ever let out before. Something was wrong.

Claire and Carlos burst through the door, guns raised, and Carlos immediately staggered backwards. "Wh- I mean- I um.." He stuttered. "I'm just gonna… turn around now." He spun on his heel and walked over to the entrance to the bedroom, he'd thought that K-mart was in trouble… He thought he'd be scarred for life, he shook his head blinking a couple of times, clearly in shock from seeing the girl he considered to be a younger sister slash daughter half naked.

Claire looked at K-mart. "What's wrong?" She asked after Carlos had left, and she shut the door behind her, searching K-mart's face, seeing the distress written all over her.

"I- I'm bleeding." K-mart sobbed softly, and wrapped her arms around Claire, causing the redhead to tense for a moment.

"What happened? Did you get hurt? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Claire asked, as she began peppering the girl with what seemed like nine million questions in the moment. as she began searching the girl for wounds and not finding any, then it dawned on Claire. "Oh…" She paused for a moment, realizing what had happened and what freaked the girl out.

"Oh K, I thought…" Claire shook her head. "I probably should have told you all this sooner. If I had known no one had told you." Claire hugged the girl tightly as she bent down, tugging up the younger blonde's pants and closing the lid on the toilet, setting her down, and sitting on the edge of the tub, trying to figure out a way to begin the conversation.

"A-am I gonna die?" K-mart sniffled, taking comfort in the convoy leader's presence. The convoy leader looked shocked, and then had to bite her tongue to hold back her laughter.

"No K-mart you aren't going to die." Claire said, ruffling the girl's hair. "You sit here so I can tell Carlos to grab one of my bags from the Hummer, and I'm going to tell him that you're okay, he's probably on the verge of a nervous break down right now." Claire stood and quietly exited the bathroom.

"Hey Carlos." Claire said softly, causing the ex-umbrella soldier to jump. He looked unbelievably pale. "K-mart's fine, I just need you to get my red bag from the Hummer." Carlos nodded, his posture relaxing a bit.

"But why did she yell?" Carlos frowned, studying the redhead, who just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Girl problems." Claire said, and he automatically tensed and practically ran from the room. What ever K-mart's problems, though he automatically knew what it was Claire was referring to- he'd rather not think about it. Claire giggled as she watched the man dart from the room. "Men." She muttered softly, and sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbing her temples.

"Here you go Claire, I'm gonna go and do stuff…" Carlos said as he returned with the bag, thrusting it into Claire's hands before exiting the room again, like an infected dog was at his heels. The thought made Claire frown for a moment and she closed the motel door room quietly behind Carlos's retreating figure before returning to the bathroom, taking her place back on the edge of the tub.

"I'm sorry that I waited so long to talk to you about this K-mart." Claire said, her eyes studying the younger girl's face. She'd just assumed that the girl's mother would have had this conversation with her already.

"As you get older, your body begins to change K." Claire began, shifting awkwardly on the tub. " You'll get taller, you'll start developing curves, your feet will grow. What you're experiencing now is your period, which you'll stop having when you're about 45 to 51." Claire studied the ceiling for a few seconds. "A period will generally last anywhere from 3 to 7 days. Was your stomach bothering you at all earlier?" Claire studied K-mart who nodded silently. "Next time come see me, okay?" Claire asked as she opened her bag up, removing a bottle of ibuprofen, and handing her a pill and a water bottle. "Take this." Claire said, and K-mart immediately took the medicine, while still searching Claire's face.

"A period is a sign that you'll be ready to have a baby." Claire continued, and shifted. "Betty can probably answer any questions that you have about it." Could her face get any redder, K-mart wondered absent mindedly, relieved that she wasn't going to die. "We'll have the convoy stop at a clothing store so that we can pick out a couple of bras for you." Claire mumbled as she stared up at the ceiling, then began to explain to K-mart about pad, and tampons and how they worked.

Once she was sure that K-mart was aware of everything that she needed to know, Claire exited the bathroom, claiming that she had things to attend to and she ran as fast as she could to the ambulance, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it while K-mart showered. "Jesus Christ Betty. You better come up with a god damn program about the birds and the bees for these kids. I never, ever, ever want to have to go through that again!" Claire mumbled, going on a rant. "I just had to go explain to K why she was bleeding!" Claire mumbled quickly, lighting the smoke and taking a deep breath, letting the smoke from the cigarette fill her lungs, before exhaling slowly.

Betty was laughing at the red headed leader, and seeing her murderous expression, she quickly sobered up. "Of course, I'll figure stuff out right away." Betty said, shaking her head back and forth. "You know, you could have just come gotten me, right?" Betty studied Claire's face.

"I think K-mart took about five years off Carlos and my lives with that scream she let out. I swear to god that girl is going to make me go gray even faster then those damn zombies are." Claire muttered, shaking her head as she watched Carlos sipping on a bottle of beer, rubbing his head and talking to himself inside his truck.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day, especially when she had to tell Carlos why they would be looking for another clothing store or mall so soon after their last raid of a place that size, where they'd lost Dan, one of the members that Claire would heavily rely on for clearing missions.

She didn't even want to think about the soldier's reaction after seeing how he was reacting to K-mart's first period. Claire couldn't help but giggle as she tried to picture Carlos when K-mart would get her first boyfriend.


	6. No Way Out, Emily

Claire sat back, leaning against a log they'd dragged over to the campfire, and she watched K-mart strumming on Chase's guitar. She was pick to quick up on the instruments, and she had a beautiful voice when it came to singing, the younger blonde usually choosing to sit with the teenagers and kids around their own campfire, and Claire took the time to study the now 14 year old girl.

So much had happened, and they had lost so many people this year, but somehow the girl had still managed to be so bright and optimistic. She was what was holding many of the convoy members together, Claire mused to herself, as she leaned against Carlos. K-mart was growing up so fast, and it scared her, she thought, shaking her head for a moment to break off that train of thought when K-mart began to sing ever so softly to herself.

"Everywhere I turn, I hurt someone. But there's nothing I can say to change the things I've done. Of all the things I hid from you, I can not hide the shame, and I pray someone, something will come to take away the pain. There's no way out of this dark place. No hope, no future. I know I can't be free, but I can't see another way, I can't face another day. Tell me where did I go wrong, everyone I love, they're all gone. I'd do everything differently, but I can't turn back the time. There's no shelter from the storm inside of me, There's no way out of this dark place, no hope, no future. I know I can't be free, but I can't see another way, I can't face another day, I can't believe the words I hear, it's like an answer to a prayer, when I look around I see this place, this time, this friend of mine, I know it's hard but you found somehow, to look into your heart and to forgive me now. You've given me the strength to see just where my journey ends. You've given me the strength to carry on. I see the path, from this dark place. I see my future, Your forgiveness has set me free, oh and I can see another way I can face another day, I see the path, I see the future," K-mart strummed on the guitar, unaware of the attention that she'd gathered while she sang the song, blushing once she'd looked up and seen everyone watching her. She hadn't meant to catch everyones attention, she thought, as she stood up, and she set the guitar aside.

"Sorry." K-mart mumbled. The song No Way Out, by Phil Collins had really hit home with her lately, when ever she thought about her sister, and how her sister hadn't survived the initial attack by the infected which had also claimed her parents life.

She could never share the truth about her past with anyone, they'd all turn away from her once it got out that she'd abandoned her older sister. Claire and the others all knew that K-mart was holding back and hiding, though they tried not to pry too much, as it didn't appear that the girl was suicidal. They just knew that it would take time for her to come around.

K-mart set the guitar aside, and picked up her dinner, picking at fruit, and appearing deep in thought. "Claire, do you think that- never mind." The blonde muttered as she passed the mostly full can of fruit to the leader. "I'm not hungry." K-mart muttered darkly upon the sight of the convoy leader's confusion. "I'm just going to go to bed early. I'm really tired." She lied.

"Alright, I'll be there in a little while, I'm just going to do my rounds first." K-mart nodded as she returned the guitar to Chase, and climbed into the back seat of the Hummer, and she allowed herself to cry for the loss of her family, and the confusing feelings she had about gaining a new family with the convoy, especially with Claire and Carlos, and with that K-mart had drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

"Hi Dahlia." A voice said, and K-mart snapped her head up.

"Emily?" There standing in front of her, was her sister, who looked exactly as she did the day the infection took her.

"Yeah, I guess you've been struggling lately, huh?" Emily said, sitting down beside her younger sister. "Don't worry, it's perfectly normal you know. I'm only here for a little while, I have to get back to our parents. They wanted you to know how much they missed you." Emily said, hugging her sister tightly. "Don't keep holding yourself responsible for what happened Dahlia. I told you to run repeatedly, but you didn't hear me. You never abandoned me little sister."

K-mart frowned deeply. "But I couldn't save you either."

"Dahlia, you know you wouldn't have survived the attack if you had stayed." Emily shifted beside her sister for a moment. " Besides, you're here for a reason. You may not realize it yet, but the others around you already have." Emily said, planting a soft kiss upon her sister's forehead. "I have to go now." Emily stood and she slowly faded out.

"Fuck." K-mart said as she sat up, rubbing her temple. She was still confused about the appearance of her sister in last night's dream, she sighed softly to herself and Claire reached out, gently hitting K-mart of the arm.

"Don't cuss." Claire muttered and rolled over going back to sleep, and K-mart let out a sigh, before she sank back down onto the seat and closed her eyes again, sinking into a dreamless sleep.

The song as I stated earlier was no way out, by phil collins.

I don't own any of the characters (though, I wished I did) This was more or less a filler chapter, because I'm going through some time and I just didn't want to skip from oh she turned 13, now here look, she's 19.

Anyway, BSH signing off for today ~ Don't you dream impossible dreams


	7. Returning Home

AN: Really this is just another filler chapter! If you guys haven't really been able to tell, I have NO idea where this is going. What I write really depends on how I'm feeling each day. I write each day, usually for about four to six hours, so I generally have a new chapter to post everyday or every other day, thanks for your review PrincessLia , it makes me happy to know that someone's out there enjoying this ^.^ Song #1 is Someone's watching over me, Hilary Duff Song #2 Take a look through my eyes, Phil Collins

Two years had passed, and things had been getting much worse for the convoy. Instead of everything they needed being plentiful, sometimes they had to hit two or three towns to find what they needed. Even gas was becoming sparse, K-mart thought to herself, absently doodling in her notebook. In these two years, they'd lost over half of the convoy again. They were down to about 15 people now.

K-mart gazed across the fire, her eyes trailing over the redheaded convoy leader, who was still studying the maps. She'd been that way for the past four hours. "Carlos?" K-mart turned to the former Umbrella soldier as she took off her sunglasses, she wouldn't need them for much longer anyway as it was going to be dark in about an hour.

"Yeah K?" Carlos looked up from his dinner at the sixteen year old. She'd grown so much since they'd first picked her up. The girl was now pushing about 5'4 he estimated and she was certainly no more than a hundred pounds. If he had to guess she was pushing more towards 85 or 90, he watched as the teen fiddled with the dog tags they'd given her for her first birthday with the convoy, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Do you ever think that we're the last ones out here?" K-mart murmured softly, her gaze sweeping across the land, and she let out a sigh. "We haven't seen anyone in ages, our supplies are always low lately. I just… what if there's no one else?" K-mart looked at the ground.

Carlos wrapped his arm around the girl, hugging her tightly. "Don't worry, there's others out there who live just like us." Carlos assured K, and ruffled her hair gently. "We just have to find them." Carlos glanced down at K-mart's notebook. "So, how's the song coming?"

K-mart shrugged. "It feels like I'm going nowhere with it." She sighed softly, picking up her pencil, looking at the tanker where Chase was polishing his rifle while on lookout, and sighed. Chase had given her a guitar for her birthday today. The kids were running around and playing tag about 20 yards from the fire, and her gaze was drawn to them, and she smiled. "I wish life was easier." She grumbled a bit.

"Don't we all K, don't we all." Carlos murmured softly, and he rested his head on top of the girls with a soft sigh and groaned a bit when Claire called him over. "I'll be back K. The boss lady bellows." Carlos said with a grin and stood, brushing himself off and traveling over to the leader, and K-mart sighed, picking up her guitar, and practicing a few chords. When she glanced over at Claire and Carlos, they looked to be having a heated conversation, and they kept looking at her every few moments.

"K?" Jake, one of the younger convoy members asked sitting beside her. "What do you miss about your old life?" He asked the older girl, seeing the sad far away look in her eye.

"Aside from my family, would be my horses." K-mart said with a small smile, wondering if any of them had survived the apocalypse, and cringed at the thought of zombie horses running around on her parent's property.

"You had horses?" Claire asked, her head shooting up, causing K-mart to jump in surprise. She hadn't heard them approach.

"Yeah, I owned three of my own." K-mart grinned, remembering how it felt to gallop across the fields. "My parents didn't understand my love for them, but they definitely supported my interest." K-mart mumbled. "My sister liked to ride on occasion, but she was more into girly stuff then horses." K-mart looked off into the distance. "We didn't really live too far from here, maybe a half hour. We used to keep our own gas there." K-mart smiled at the leader shyly. "We kept a huge tank in our barn under lock and key." K-mart thought for a minute. "At least 500 gallons of gas."

Claire raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't be opposed to showing us where you lived and maybe getting the gas would you?" She asked the girl softly. They really needed the gas, but if K-mart said no, because going back there would be too painful, they wouldn't.

"Actually, I was going to talk to you about that, there's a few things at the house I wouldn't mind picking up if it's okay with you. " K-mart smiled shyly. "It should also be pretty safe and we could probably stay there a few days." K-mart frowned a bit as she thought of it. "I'll show you where it is tomorrow." K-mart motioned up at the sky. "It's way to dark now." She stated the obvious and went back to strumming on the guitar.

"All I know is you're not here to say what you always used to say, but it's written in the sky tonight. So I won't give up, no I won't break down, Sooner than it seems life turns around, and I will be strong, even if it all goes wrong, when I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe someone's watching over me." K-mart sang softly to herself as she jotted down a couple more lines.

Claire sank down beside K-mart and grinned a bit. "Happy Birthday K-mart." Claire whispered softly, and she took out a small box. "Carlos and I picked it up a while back," Claire said and leaned forward, brushing her lips against the younger blonde's forehead and smiling at her. K-mart opened the box, and gasped softly when she saw the charm bracelet and a few charms already upon it.

K-mart wrapped her arms around the two adults. "Thank you guys, I absolutely love it." She murmured, tears stinging at her eyes.

"Get your butt to bed though, I have a feeling you'll want to get up early tomorrow morning." K-mart blushed and nodded. Not many members of the convoy had ever gotten the chance to go back home, she thought to herself.

"In a few more minutes," K-mart promised. "I promised the kids a song, and it was Maddy's turn to pick." She said with a smile, turning back to the kids. "There are things in life you learn and oh in time you'll see, 'cause out there somewhere it's all waiting, if you keep believing. so don't run, don't hide, it will be alright, you'll see, trust me, I'll be there watching over you, just take a look through my eyes there's a better place somewhere out there, oh just take a look through my eyes, everything changes you'll be amazed what you'll find, there's a better place if you you look through my eyes," K-mart sang softly to the group of children sitting at her feet. "There will be times on this journey, all you see is darkness, but out there somewhere, daylight finds you, if you keep believing, so don't run, don't hide, it will be alright, you'll see, trust me, I'll be there watching over you, just take a look, through my eyes, there's a better place somewhere out there, just take a look through my eyes, everything changes you'll be amazed what you'll find, there's a better place if you look through my eyes, all the things that you can change, there's a meaning in everything and you will find, all you need there's so much to understand, just take a look through my eyes, there's a better place somewhere out there, just take a look through my eyes, " K-mart finished and the kids clapped and slowly left the fire place to head to the bus to go sleep.

- The Next Morning -

"Take a right here." K-mart directed and they pulled up to a fence, and K-mart opened the door to get out.

"What do you think you're doing K?" Claire asked, as she grabbed the blonde's arm. "We don't know if it's safe yet."

"I'm unlocking the gate." K-mart said softly. "We still have like a half mile to drive." Claire frowned and pulled out her pistol, glancing around.

"We go out together." K-mart nodded and she got out of the Hummer, smiling as she traced the golden horse head on the gate. She reached under the fake hollow rock off a couple of feet from the gate, and lifted it up, palming the silver colored key and unlocked the padlocks.

"My father didn't want anyone to break in when we left, so he secured everything. He assumed we'd only be gone for about a week." K-mart said softly, as she opened up the gate. If you pull up a bit, once everyone comes through, I'll lock the gate again." Claire raised a single eyebrow, at the younger girl. "Yeah, like you'd leave me alone for even a moment." K-mart grinned at the convoy leader.

"Hey LJ, get your ass out here for a moment, I need you to pull the Hummer forward while I guard K-mart. " Claire spoke into the walkie talkie and the man jumped down from the truck the was just behind the Hummer and he climbed into Claire's vehicle, and fired it up, driving forward about a 100 feet, "Everyone else pull up, once we get Chase through the gate we're gonna lock it up again." She watched the vehicles pull through one by one. "Okay, Chase is through. We're locking up, and then we'll continue." Claire helped K-mart chain the gate again, locking it up and glancing around. "Pretty fields." Claire murmured softly, glancing around.

"Yeah," K-mart said softly. "It used to be filled with horses." K-mart shook her head, as they climbed back into the hummer, and continued down the gravel drive. They pulled up into a circular drive, and Claire raised an eyebrow at the sight of the property. "Didn't know you were rich K. " Claire laughed softly, seeing the fountain, large barn, garage, and rather large mansion.

"My parents were, I wasn't." K-mart corrected feeling slightly awkward, K-mart tensed up when she thought she heard a horse. "Claire, did you hear that?" K-mart asked excitedly, and she bolted from the hummer, and into the open barn.

"K-Mart!" Claire yelled. "Fuck!" She scrambled for the pistol and shotgun, chasing after the girl. She watched K-mart skid to a stop in front of one of the stalls, carefully inspecting the horse from a distance. "K-mart, never do that again." Claire lectured as she took in the horse's appearance. "It doesn't look infected." Claire said softly.

"He's not… I assumed he was dead." K-mart whispered softly, as she opened the stall door and entered. "Hi there Sunny. Remember me?" K-mart asked softly, brushing her lips over the horse's velvety nose, giggling as the horse lipped at her hair.

"As if he could forget you. You used to spend hours upon hours with that horse." A soft voice said, causing Claire to spin around, pointing the gun in the new comers direction. "Hello Dahlia Elizabeth."

"Joe!" K-mart said, squealing and wrapping her arms around the man. "They call me K-mart now," She whispered into the older man's ear, and he hid his surprise. "This is Claire Redfield, she rescued me from the store. Claire this is Joe Murphy. He was my Dad's right hand man. Joe kept everything around here running smoothly, he was in charge of the animals and vehicles." K-mart introduced the pair.

"You can put your guns away. There's no infected here." Joe rumbled softly as he released the girl from the hug. "The perimeter around here is quite secure. The only place you'll probably need the gun for is if you're going hunting. Betty can prepare dinner for you guys." Joe continued not missing a beat. "If you tell me how many of you there is," He added, glancing at the school bus. "We have steak, and some vegetables from the indoor garden."

"Fifteen," Claire supplied, as she took in the giant golden colored horse that was following after K-mart like a puppy. Joe nodded and walked into the main mansion, and Claire turned her gaze to K-mart, who scuffed at the ground.

"I'm sorry Claire, I was just so excited when I heard the horses, I didn't stop to think about the danger. Then I worried that someone would shoot the horses without looking to see if they were infected or not." K-mart paused as she saw Claire's eyes softening. "I promise I won't do that again." She hugged the convoy leader.

"You better not." Claire said as she ruffled the blonde's hair. "You stay here while I go talk to the others." Claire hugged the girl and spun on her heel walking back to the rest of the convoy, and K-mart returned to the horse.

"Hmm, what do you say to me putting you through your paces boy?" K-mart asked the horse, and grinned, walking over to the tack room, and changing into a pair of riding pants, and her riding boots. She put on her helmet, and tucked a pair of riding gloves into the waistband of her pants, while she grabbed a saddle and bridle from the tack room, and she saddled the horse, leading him into the sand filled arena.

She mounted the horse, and gently eased the animal into a slow walk, then a bouncy trot, and finally a graceful canter, the two moving as one, unaware of the groups attention on her. "She's good," Carlos murmured softly as he leaned against the gate.

"Very good," Joe murmured softly, coming up beside the rest of the group. "She placed many times with that horse, usually coming in first place. The pair share a bond. She almost lost the horse when he was younger due to illness. Every night, she'd sneak out of the house and into the barn, and she'd cuddle the baby horse, reading to him, and making sure that he ate. " Joe smiled a bit. "The two were inseparable after that." Joe sighed softly. "I missed that girl terribly when her father took her, and her family away. I take it the others never made it?"

"No, when we found her she was near death herself." Claire frowned, as she remembered the state that they had found K-mart in. Joe nodded.

"Thank you for helping the girl. Now that she's home, I'll see to it that you guys have everything you need when you leave as a token of my appreciation for caring for the girl." Joe flicked his eyes back to the arena, and both Carlos and Claire tensed up at the implication that K-mart would be staying.

"As long as it's safe, we're going to stay here for a while." Claire said softly. "K-mart deserves this chance at normalcy. All the kids here do." Claire said, watching as K-mart dismounted from the horse, grinning from ear to ear, and she hoisted a couple of kids onto the horse's back and began leading him around the arena, giving the kids pony rides. "And we'll support her decision if she chooses to stay, or come with us."

"We'll see, we'll see." Joe murmured as he walked off.


	8. Claire's Riding Lesson, Decisions

AN: Hey there redprototype150, thanks for the review. I also believe that K-mart and Claire belong together, as for them staying together, I couldn't possibly break the pair up could I? Well, maybe I could… but I find that would just be cruel. I also wanted to give you guys a bit of cuteness, before things started to turn a bit dark (only for a couple of chapters that is!) Also. I didn't realize that I had named Joe's wife Betty too. So I'm gonna change her to Amy. She's not really an important character and is going to- well never mind. Don't want to give anything away!

K-Mart Chapter Eight

Claire sighed softly. K-mart's impromptu riding lesson with the kids was over. "Claire, come here!" K-mart grinned at the redheaded convoy leader impishly, as she held her golden colored horse still. Claire just raised an eyebrow, but climbed over the fence and hopped down, landing in the sand filled arena soundlessly. K-mart grinned. "You're up next Carlos!" K-mart grinned at the soldier who paled a bit as he studied the animal. The younger blonde giggled at the former soldier's expression, before turning her gaze back to the convoy leader. "You'll want to get a little closer," K-mart said, as she repositioned the leader beside the horse.

"Take the reins, and a small bit of mane here," K-mart pointed, "In your left hand." Satisfied K-mart checked the girth one more time. "Okay, put all your weight into your right foot, and put your left into the stirrup, then shift your weight to your left, and swing your right leg over the horse's back." Claire squeaked as the horse shifted his weight, causing her to grip at the saddle holding on for dear life, causing the girl on the ground to giggle. "Trust me?" K-mart whispered the question as she stared deep into the green eyes belonging to Claire.

"With my life." Claire murmured softly, smiling down at the younger girl, causing the blonde's eyes to sparkle, K-mart nodded thoughtfully, looking lost for just a moment.

"Take your feet out of the stirrups, and move your legs forward a bit, they're way too short for you, so I have to drop them." K-mart said and she gently pushed Claire's legs forward when she froze up a bit. She quickly adjusted the length of them, making sure to keep contact with Claire when she'd stopped holding him still. "Don't worry about him, he won't move, he's very well trained." K-mart smiled up, then she started leading the horse around the arena. Claire was so tense though it wasn't funny, she sat as stiff as a board, and K-mart sighed softly.

K-mart brought the horse to a stop, and she reached for the front of the saddle and used her upper body strength to pull herself up behind Claire, and she reached around, picking up the reins clicking her tongue softly, and urging the horse forward. "You know, horses are very sensitive, especially Sunny here." K-mart said softly, gently patting the horse's rump. "They can pick up on your emotions, if you're scared, they'll take advantage of that." K-mart continued to speak to Claire, the sound of her voice beginning to soothe the redhead's fear.

Joe watched from the side of the arena, frowning as he watched K-mart and Claire riding double. The girl had certainly changed since he'd last seen her, she was no longer frightened of her own shadow. Keeping Dahlia here with him was going to be tougher than he thought, and his frowned deepened, his steel gray eyes flashing dangerously. He'd have to work to break the bond between the woman and the girl, he realized as he ran his fingers over a framed photograph of the girl, taken only a couple of weeks before the outbreak.

The girls demands to be called K-Mart infuriated him. That wasn't the name that was given to her. How could a girl who'd grown up with the finer things in life, and designer clothing want to be called after a chain of stores? He grumbled to himself as he picked up the photo album that Dahlia had asked him for. He saw the Dahlia and Claire laughing as the horse cantered around the arena. He gripped the book even harder until his knuckles were white. He'd have to break the bond between them and soon. But for tonight, he'd let the pair have their time together. He'd need time to plan after all.

When Claire and K-mart finished their ride, K-mart grumbled as she looked around, searching for Carlos, who was no where in sight. She shook her head remembering how he'd reacted when she'd told him that it was his turn next. "I'll have to get him tomorrow or the next day…" K-mart paused for a moment, her eyes meeting Claire's as she helped the redhead dismount from the horse. "We are staying here a couple days right?" K-mart asked softly, fiddling with a lock of the horse's mane, not giving her emotions away.

"As long as it's safe we can stay. The first sign of trouble though, we'll have to move on." Claire said tilting the blonde's head up towards her, searching the teen's face and letting out a soft sigh of her own. "We'll share a room and talk about it tonight, and what you'd want to bring with you." Claire smiled down at the girl.

"Sunny." The answer came automatically, and Claire jerked her head back.

"K-" Claire said softly, as she studied the horse. "The horse requires a lot of food, and water. We're always on the road and if-" Claire sighed rubbing her temple lightly as she watched K-mart's face shut down. "He wouldn't even fit in the Hummer!" Claire said grinning at the girl, who burst into giggles.

"Don't be silly Claire. I have a horse trailer." K-mart shook her head, and hugged Claire. "I know I'm being silly. I just don't want to leave him." K-mart said softly, as she ran her hand over the horse's sweaty neck. "He was my entire world before now." K-mart confessed as she brushed a kiss across the horse's broad forehead. "I have to go cool him off, and feed him. Take a walk with me after? I want to see who else is left."

"I'll even help, it's the least I can do." Claire smiled as K-mart slipped into her teacher mode, showing Claire how to care for the horse, and when they were done putting the tack away and everything was all set, K-mart began to give Claire the tour.

"There's a lot of horses missing." K-mart noted, as she began walking down the aisles on both sides. "This is Pegasus, and Candy." K-mart introduced Claire to her other two horses. "At least four are missing." K noted sadly, as she stroked the horse's noses. "I learned how to joust on Pegasus." K-mart grinned widely.

"Like a knight?" Claire asked surprised.

"Yeah. My dad really liked medieval stuff. I thought it would impress him." K-mart said softly and blinked back a few tears. "He never really noticed though. Joe was more like my dad. " K-mart said smiling. "Joe never missed a single sports or school event, He was the one who usually went with me and my sister." K-mart shrugged as she continued to lead Claire outside. "We had about 20 head of cattle. A little more. " K-mart let her gaze drift over the herd. "I'd say there's more now. Joe must have stuck to the breeding program to keep up a steady food source."

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Claire asked. She was only 12 when they had found her, and she had just hit sixteen a few days ago. K-mart eyed Claire for a long moment.

"My dad was grooming me to take over the family business. " Claire nodded, things clicking and falling into place now. "The stuff was drilled into me since I could walk and talk." K-mart rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it's almost dinner time, I have one more stop I want to make, then we can head up to the house, it's on the way." K-mart assured the redhead leading her into a small outbuilding off to the side, kennels lining two walls. "My Mom and Emily liked to raise Rottweilers and Border Collies." K-mart smiled down at the handful of puppies playing in the back pen. "Newer litters, between 8 and 10 weeks old by the looks." K-mart noted as she studied the two litters, one of each breed and glanced at the clip board with Joe's notes. K-mart carefully inspected them, checking them for signs of infection. "They're clean, want to bring them up to the main house?" K-mart said, as she glanced at the 9 puppies.

"Up to you, this is your place." Claire said, leaning over and ruffling the blonde's hair and she stuck her fingers through the chainlink fencing, letting the puppies lick her fingers, and K-mart smiled. She hadn't seen Claire this relaxed since…. ever. K-mart smiled as she looked around, and grabbed a cardboard box, placing the puppies in there. "If you carry one end, I'll carry the other." Claire smiled at the girl, lifting the box up as they carried it up to the mansion.

"Ahh, Miss D- I mean Miss K-mart, you've found the puppies. How delightful! I've shown everyone to a guest room except the lady with you, your bed has been turned down, and there are towels in the bathroom hanging up if you'd like a shower. I'll show this lady to her room, and then-"

"She'll be staying with me." K-mart said quickly, interrupting Amy, who'd served as a cook and a nanny for the house for many years.

Amy stared at the girl for a minute and nodded. "As you wish." She murmured softly. "The children are in the entertainment room playing video games, and watching movies. The adults are in the study. May I suggest you two shower before joining up with them?" Amy turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen, continuing to prepare dinner. K-mart and Claire exchanged a look.

"She'll probably get mad if we track dirt and mud through the house." K-mart whispered softly as she toed off her shoes at the front door, with Claire following suit. "I'll drop the puppies off in the Entertainment room, then we can shower and I'll give you the tour. Joe said that the gas tanks out back are full by the way." K-mart said as she and Claire headed down the hallway through a set of double doors.

The kids of course were thrilled to have some new playmates, and K scooped up a border collie puppy as she continued down the hall with Claire. "Here's my room." K-mart said and she glanced around. Nothing had changed except for the items that had been placed on her bed that she asked for. "Shower is through those doors." K said as she sank down in a rocking chair overlooking one of the fields, the puppy cuddled close to her chest.

Claire disappeared behind the bathroom doors, and then she let out a loud squeal. "K- remind me to kiss you when I get done. I haven't had a hot shower in almost a year!" Claire shouted from inside the room, and the blonde's cheeks heated up, her eyes going wide as she stared at the door for a few moments. She didn't- she couldn't? K-mart couldn't form a complete thought.

"J-just don't use up all the hot water!" K-mart yelled back finally, as she walked over to her closet, eyeing the clothes there. Nothing in here would fit her. A knock came from the door. "Come in." K-mart called as she stepped out of the closet. "Hi Joe, is that my bag?" K-mart asked.

"Yeah, I figured you'd want something to wear, after all these probably won't fit you." He gestured to the closet. "It's so good to finally have you home again K-mart. Though, we'll have to talk privately when you get a few free moments. Your convoy will be moving on soon, and well… Amy and I are getting to old to be on the run, and we'd like for you to stay with us. It would mean the world to us."

K-mart tensed up, a mask covering her features as her eyes went from Joe's face, to the bathroom door and back again. "I'll have to think of it." K-mart said softly, and squeezed the puppy tighter to her chest. She'd been craving a place where she could settle down for the longest time after having been traveling with the convoy. Her entire life had been here, she thought, and she let out a sigh. "Claire's almost done, so I'm going to shower next. Thank you for bringing my clothes up Joe." She mumbled softly, still a little shocked. She'd expected the pair to travel with her once they'd have to go on the move again…. She didn't think she'd have to choose between her old life, or what was left of it, and this one.

All throughout dinner, K-mart remained rather silent, poking at her meal and pushing it about while the others devoured the food on their plates. Once the kids had been tucked into bed, the adults in the convoy- Chase, LJ, Betty, Carlos, Claire, and K-mart retired to the study and they sat around waiting for the others to speak.

"Not far behind our house there's a bomb shelter. There's all types of canned goods in there and medical supplies. " K-mart said softly. "There's more than enough fuel for us to fill up the tanker, and the vehicles and leave enough for Joe and Amy when you guys leave." K-mart said softly, her eyes staring down at the book in front of her. She didn't meet anyone's eyes, and Claire wasn't the only one to pick up on the fact that K-mart hadn't grouped herself with Joe and Amy or the convoy.

"I have a decision that I have to make, and I need time to think about it. So I'm going to ask for some time to myself tonight." K-mart whispered to herself. "I'll be in the library if anyone needs me." The blonde whispered to herself, and left the room, the door closing with a soft click, and little clicking of nails on the hardwood floor made everyone smile for a moment. The puppy that she'd picked out earlier was still trailing after her.

Claire turned and faced the rest of the group, trying to hide the emotions that were running through her body. "W-we." She began, her voice wavering for a moment. "We'll be staying here for a few days, unless there's signs of trouble. K-mart offered use of the garage to us, and there should be some parts that we can replace on some of our vehicles. Tomorrow you guys start loading up canned goods, and fuel and I'll work on repairing the vehicles and stocking up on some parts from in town." Claire said softly, her nails digging sharply into the palm of her hand as she tried looking anywhere but at the members of the convoy so they wouldn't see how upset she was getting. Carlos sat there silently, staring at the floor, trying to process everything that just happened. "Until then, everyone try and get a good nights sleep." Claire whispered softly, before darting out of the room like the place was on fire. She couldn't be in there any more.

Claire curled up in the queen sized bed, and she was sound asleep by the time that K-mart had climbed in beside her. The second that K-mart snuggled into Claire, the redhead's arms came around the girl protectively, and she burrowed her face into the blonde's neck. The pair drifted off to sleep, both in a restless sleep.


	9. Mechanics, Decisions Made, Sage VS Joe

K-mart slowly was coming to, and she was hot. She let out a soft groan, blinking a couple of times, and she looked down. Claire had practically rolled on top of her during the middle of the night and had her wrapped up in a bear hug. The younger blonde took her time, studying the convoy leader's face. She must have cried during the night, she noted sadly, now knowing why Claire had slept so close to her last night.

Carefully, K-Mart untangled herself from Claire's limbs, and slid from the bed to the floor without making a sound. K-mart selected a pair of jeans, and a form fitting teeshirt, then tugged on her boots. "Come on Sage," K-mart whispered softly to the little red and white border collie puppy at the foot of the bed.

K-mart took the stairs two at a time, eager to get down to the barn but was intercepted by Carlos. "Where are you headed?" He asked softly, wrapping his arm around the girl, and K-mart rolled her eyes just a bit.

"I was headed to the barn." She admitted. "I always do my best thinking there." She sighed as they headed towards the kitchen.

"Breakfast first, then I'll go with you so we can talk about what's bugging you." Carlos said, searching the girl's chocolate eyes and he kissed the top of her head. "And get me something too," He grinned as he scooped up the puppy.

"Fine." K-mart sighed as she walked towards the fridge, searching the shelves for a moment before settling on a pair of breakfast burritos and an apple. She balanced the food in one hand while measuring out a scoop of dog food and dropping it into a plastic bowl. "Let's go old man," She teased Carlos, and led the way out to the barn, kicking at the ground.

"So, spill." Carlos said, not looking at her, and studying their surroundings, having a feeling that last night had something to do with it.

K-mart's frown deepened and she opened the barn doors wide, setting the food for Sage on the ground, and the burritos and apples on the mounting block. "Sit here, and we'll talk, I'm just gonna get some hay, and Sunny." She climbed up the ladder into the loft and dropped down a couple of bales of hay, and left a half bale in the arena, the rest being distributed to the other horses in the barn. She opened the stall door, the gold colored horse trailing after her like Sage did.

"You have a way with animals." Carlos said softly watching the teenager who smiled a bit.

"I guess." K-mart said softly, and she brushed her lips across the horses forehead gently. "The animals here were my only escape from my father's overbearing nature. " K-mart said softly as she walked across the arena, selecting a bucket full of grooming tools, and placed them on the ground beside Carlos watching as the horse munched contently. "Last night Joe talked to me. He said you guys would be moving on in a few days. Amy and Joe won't be going with you guys if you leave." K-mart said softly, and Carlos stared at the girl for a moment.

"I suppose that he wouldn't. As you go through life you'll see that there's so much that we don't understand." Carlos said softly, taking a bite out of his breakfast and chewing as he contemplated his next words. "The only thing that we truly know is that things don't always go as we planned." He watched as K-mart paused in her brushing of her horse before picking up the soothing movements once again. "But you'll see everyday that we'll never turn away, we'll stand by your side filled with hope and filled with pride and no matter which path that you choose your journey's only beginning. "

K-mart sighed as she thought his words over for a few moments. "If I stay with the convoy, can I still just be me, the way I am? Can I trust in my heart or am I just one part of some big plan, of some big group?" K-mart said softly, wiping at her face as she hid behind the horse.

"Even those who are gone are with us as we go on, your journey has only begun. Tears of joy, tears of pain one thing nothing can destroy. It's our family. We are more than we are, we are one. " Carlos came up behind the blonde and wiped her tears away. "You, and I. We're one, just like the earth and sky- one family under the sun. All the wisdom to lead, all the courage that you need, you get from the convoy, from Claire. " He tapped her nose. "When you find deep inside what you want, you'll see the path. "

K-mart sniffled into his shirt, and finally nodded. "Thanks Carlos," She murmured softly, and she hugged the soldier tightly.

"Anytime K." He smiled and reached out hesitantly petting the horse.

"He doesn't bite you know!" K-mart giggled and Carlos smiled at her. "Why do you think that Joe and Amy won't come with us?" K-mart finally asked, as she started lifting the horse's hooves up one by one, cleaning out the dirt that was trapped there.

"I know but he's still huge." Carlos said and he went back to eating his breakfast, watching K-mart in her own little world. "Look around this place." He said softly. "Someone needs to keep this place going, and no one here is getting any younger." He smiled gently at K-mart. " If I thought for a moment I was going to slow Claire and the other's down, I'd ask to be left behind." Carlos said softly, running his fingers through Sage's soft coat. "Plus, maybe they're doing it to keep your mind at ease. So you know that these guys are well taken care of."

They turned their head at the sound of rapid footsteps approaching them, and Claire had arrived. "Oh your here. I thought something happened to you guys when I didn't see you in the house." Claire mumbled softly and stole the burrito from Carlos's hand, taking a bite. "Thanks Carlos." Claire mumbled, and Carlos looked from the sandwich to the redhead, reading the relief that was written all over her face.

"Yeah, I came out here to feed the horses and stuff. You were sleeping so I didn't want to bother you." K-mart said softly, and she led Sunny away a few steps before taking a couple running steps towards the horse and vaulting onto his back. "I'll open the garage up in about 30 minutes, show Chase to the gas pumps, and then I'll show Carlos to the shelter in the back yard. " K-mart offered and then bit her lip.

"Claire, do you think we could check out the mall in town before we leave? I'd really like to get a new pair of sneakers, and there's an ammo store next door to that." K-mart grinned a bit at the leader, making the thought even sweeter.

"We do need to stock up on some ammo." Claire said thoughtfully."I don't see why we couldn't hit up both places." Claire finally said and K-mart beamed. "So how much longer do you think we'll stay here?" K-mart asked, her fingers laced in the horse's mane as he cantered around the arena kicking up sand behind him.

"A couple more days. It seems really safe. The kids are attached to the dogs, so we may take them with us. " Claire murmured. "If you're okay with it." Claire said sitting on the step of the mounting block as K-mart whizzed by them.

"Of course we can." K-mart said and she smiled at Claire.

"Y-you're coming with us?" Claire's head shot up, almost hitting Carlos under the jaw, but thanks to his quick reflexes he managed to avoid what he knew would've left a mark.

"Of course." K-mart smiled softly. "I wouldn't be able to stand the distance, and the thought of losing you- the convoy," K-mart quickly corrected herself, "Would destroy me. I love Joe and Amy, after all they were more like my parents than my actual parents. But you guys, you are my family." K-mart blushed a bit, hoping that Claire didn't catch on to the "losing you" part. Claire noticed the blush and frowned, biting down on her bottom lip but didn't say anything. She wouldn't make any assumptions to her line of thinking just yet.

K-mart finished riding and sat herself in Claire's lap. "This is where I belong. It's a new world, a new start. " K-mart shrugged as she reached into Claire's pocket, snagging her pocket knife and slicing the apple up so that Sunny wouldn't choke when she offered it to him. She wiped the blade off on her pant leg, and folded the knife back up, replacing it. "Hold out your hand flat." K-mart whispered demonstrating to Claire as she placed the apple slice in the redheads palm. Sunny shuffled over, gently lipping at the fruit, and the leader giggled.

"It tickles." Claire said laughing a bit as she fed the horse, Claire's walls that she usually had up lowering for a few minutes, just enjoying the peace and quiet. After a few moments in their own little world, K-mart bit her bottom lip.

"Hey Claire, do you think you can teach me some more about fixing up cars?" K-mart asked shyly. "I'd like to be able to help out some more as I am getting older." K-mart said thoughtfully.

"Sure K." Claire said with a smile. "Lets show Carlos the shelter first, then we'll work on the Hummer together." Claire spoke softly, then eyed the burrito. "Did you eat breakfast yet?" K-mart mumbled a little bit. "What was that?"

"No more than you did Claire." K-mart said with a bit of a smile, and unwrapped the burrito, splitting it in half and holding it out to Claire. "You eat this. I'll take Carlos there now." K-mart compromised, and Claire nodded, watching as the horse ambled back to the pile of hay once he saw there were no more treats to be had.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Carlos grinned and ruffled K-mart's hair. "Someone has a crush." He grinned, winking down at the girl.

"What? No!" K-mart denied, her cheeks heating up.

Carlos just chuckled and shook his head. "You have good taste K-mart." He said with a wink. "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret." Carlos allowed K-mart to hop up on his back, and she directed him to the shelter, Sage trailing after them at their heels. K-mart unlocked the doors that led down to where they kept the canned goods and medical supplies. Carlos whistled at the sight. "We'll have to pull the deuce and ambulance up to here, there's going to be way too much to keep lugging back and forth." Carlos grinned and went back into the house, getting the adults who were assigned to load up the supplies, and driving the vehicles over.

K-mart grinned, and as she rounded the corner she ran into Claire, both of them falling to the ground after colliding with one another, and the two looked at each other in surprise. "Sorry Claire, I didn't mean to run into you." K-mart automatically apologized to the redhead. "Are you okay?"

"It wasn't your fault K. I just heard Carlos and the others moving about, and was coming to move the Hummer up to the garage. You ready to get to work?" Claire asked, standing up, and offering her hand up to K-mart, who accepted the help up.

"Thanks Claire." K-mart said and she began brushing the dirt off her ass, praying that there were no grass stains, because that would just be embarrassing, she thought to herself. "I'll go open the garage now." K-mart said, jogging off and unlocking the side door and rolling up the door to an empty bay. About ten minutes later, Claire pulled the yellow Hummer into the garage and stepped out, obviously having changed into a pair of cut off shorts, and an old tank top, discarding her hat into the front seat, and popping the hood.

"So what do you know about cars?" Claire asked, trying to establish where she should start with teaching the younger girl.

"Um, not that much." K-mart admitted. "I figured fixing the cars a little would be a good skill to have." She said softly and shrugged pushing the hood up for Claire, trying to figure out where her place in the convoy would be when she officially became an "adult", something she'd been struggling with the past for couple of months.

"Okay, well we have to change the oil, make a few adjustments, check the brakes, make sure nothing has become rotted or too rusty." Claire said as she pulled out the dipstick for oil, wiping it off, dipping it back in and checking the oil level. "It'll need at least another quart." Claire mumbled. "Can you go find some oil?" K-mart nodded, walking over to a cabinet and pulling out a quart and handing it to Claire who shook her head, and pulled K-mart in front of her. "Pour carefully, don't want to spill it." K-mart did as she asked, biting her bottom lip in concentration, the heat radiating off of the redhead's body an obvious distraction.

Claire nodded her approval as K-mart finished her task, and she showed her how to change the filter. "Okay, now to the undercarriage!" Claire said, whistling softly as she slid underneath the vehicle, slowly followed by K-mart. "It actually doesn't look to bad under here, although this brake pad is a little worn… We should probably change it before we go though," Claire said thoughtfully, not really willing to risk K-mart's life… If it was just her riding by herself she probably would have risked it, and then Claire began to take the car apart, replacing the brakes and brake lines, showing K-mart what tools to use, and how to change the parts.

By time they were done with the Hummer, they were both covered in oil, and grease, the two giggling at each other's appearance, and K-mart brought her finger up to Claire's nose brushing a grease covered finger across the convoy leader's nose. "K!" Claire laughed softly at the blonde's antics. "Come on, we have to go check on the news van now." Claire shook her head wiping her hands off on her jeans.

The pair worked side by side, giggling every once and a while at a joke the other told, occasionally bumping into each other. A low growl caused Claire and K-mart to spin around, the pair having matching grease stains across their shirts. "Hey Joe." K-mart greeted and glanced down at Sage, wondering why the puppy had growled but shrugging it off- she was a puppy after all.

"I brought you guys lunch." Joe said softly, and his eyes hard as he studied the convoy leader. He'd heard Dahlia's confession this morning, how he was going to go with these strangers, leaving him and Amy alone here. He'd went to the edge of the property and collected an infected's blood, and mixed some into the red head's juice. She'd never suspect anything, and would become infected, then Dahlia would stay with him he gloated a bit.

"Well thanks Joe," Claire said softly, sitting down on a milk case next to K-mart, thrilled for the break, taking a bite out of her sandwich, and setting the glass down on the floor. Sage came over, sniffing the glass and growling loudly before pushing it over with her nose, jumping back a few feet.

"Damn mutt!" Joe growled softly and went to scoop up the puppy, but K-mart intercepted and scooped up the puppy.

"That wasn't very nice Sage." K-mart scolded the puppy. "Don't worry Joe, I'll share my juice with Claire." K-mart smiled up at the older man, and snuggled the puppy to her chest, offering the puppy the crust from her sandwich.

"Of course." Joe said, turning on his heel and fuming. His plan was ruined, and he knew he was running out of time, that he only had another day, possibly two. He wouldn't risk going out to the fence again, after almost getting scratched himself. "Fucking mutt." He growled again stomping into the house.

"Did it work?" Amy asked hopefully, her eyes lighting up.

"No hun, that damn puppy that is always trailing after Dahlia scented the infected blood and knocked Claire's glass over. Don't worry though, we'll get that woman out of the picture, then our little girl will want to stay home." Joe said unaware that Carlos was sitting outside the kitchen window in the shade eating his own lunch, blanching at what he heard, almost dropping his plate.

Carlos felt his temper flare up and he had to beat down the urge to go into the house and shoot those two, but he wouldn't kill them. They'd have to move fast and leave the property though. He wouldn't put anyone here at risk. He stood and stuck to the shadows until he made it to the garage. "Claire, we have a problem." Carlos said seriously.

"What is it?" K-mart glanced up continuing to eat her sandwich as Claire answered.

"Come take a walk with me." Carlos said, and K-mart frowned as Claire stood up, leaving the plate behind on the milk case. As soon as the pair was away from everyone else, Carlos pushed Claire against the tree, and spoke urgently to her about what he'd heard., and Claire gasped.

"We need to move fast. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. We'll stay up working most of the night. We'll say K-mart and the other kids need to get some stuff from the mall, and we'll leave from there." Claire said softly. "We won't tell K-mart until the morning. We'll take the damn dogs too, fill up the horse trailer with dog food and water. I don't think we can stay any longer than that." Claire thought for a moment. "We'll continue to head south, then west." Claire decided, and glanced around. "We leave at dawn." Claire hissed as she spotted Joe making his way over to the garage.

AN: I told you guys I had plans for Joe and Amy! They're both a little creepy, and have officially gone crazy. Thanks for your reviews EvoMR and Redprototype150. Horses can definitely be a little scary which is kinda why I still ride a pony sized horse- a Haflinger (I'm completely petrified of heights!). I couldn't allow myself to break K-mart away from Claire that's for sure! Claire definitely has to hide her emotions for now, because let's face it, while there's no more law, Claire still feels wrong since K-mart's only 16 going on 17- and still judging to see how K-mart feels about her. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

BSH~ Don't you dream impossible dreams?


	10. Chapter 10

AN: I keep forgetting to put a disclaimer (I'm fairly absent minded like that!) So I don't own anything but the animals who are based off of animals in my life. I thought it was cute how Sage is already protective of K-mart and Claire. I'm a complete animal lover so the thought of leaving the animals behind was going to break my heart. Thanks angelsgir, PrincessLia, and Claire for the reviews! I wasn't going to kill Claire off so soon! My story would have gone straight to hell! I tried to post last night, but couldn't so today you'll be getting Chapter 10, and Chapter 11 part one! If I feel motivated enough, I'll finish up part 2 and post that tonight. Anyway, enjoy!

BSH~ Don't you dream impossible dreams

Claire had refused to eat dinner with the rest of my life. the convoy last night, preferring to grab a can out of the deuce and eating from that, knowing that Joe and Amy couldn't have been trying to poison her, infect her, even kill her. Carlos and Claire had worked through the night, loading up all the dog food and supplies that they could have, and then fixing the vehicles, throwing spare parts into the back of the Hummer. It was about 4 am, and Claire began nudging the adults awake. "We're leaving this morning," Claire whispered in their ears. "Wake the kids and load them and the puppies into the bus. Don't ask questions, I'll explain everything once we're gone." Claire whispered, and snuck back into K-mart's room, gently shaking the girl's shoulder.

"Claire?" K-mart yawned, sitting up and flicking on the lamp on the nightstand. "What is it? What time is it?" K-mart grumbled, rubbing at her eyes.

"It's 4:15, we have to go." Claire whispered softly. "The kids and puppies are mostly loaded. We were gonna take the adult dogs and Sage in the Hummer with us." Claire whispered softly, studying K-mart's face. "I already loaded everything into your bags, they're on the floor between the seats in the Hummer." Claire said. "We're gonna hit the mall and then head south for a bit. After that west. I know you want to say good-bye to Sunny and the other horses."

K-mart nodded sadly. "I managed to get a couple of pictures to upload to my laptop in the Hummer." Claire smiled at the girl. "I just need to tell Joe and Amy good-bye." K-mart said as she rolled out of bed, and Claire tensed up.

"How about you write them a quick letter K? That way we don't wake them up. They're probably not used to getting up at this hour." Claire lied, automatically feeling terrible for doing so, but she wanted to do nothing more than protect K-mart.

"Sure, then I'll tape it to the fridge." K-mart grinned at the convoy leader, because K-mart would have felt terrible for having to wake them at this ungodly hour. Claire let out a little sigh of relief at the averted crisis, and stood guard near the door, keeping a look out for Joe or Amy. She'd have to get K-mart out of danger, she wouldn't feel safe until K-mart was well away from this place, she thought, twitching a little, her hands balling into a fist. If it hadn't been for Sage, she probably would've been dead by now, and would've attacked someone in the convoy, most likely K-mart, and she would've probably succeeded.

"All done," K-mart whispered as she scooped up Sage in one arm, and held the letter in the other, and the pair, the last in the house padded down the stairs. K-mart used a magnet to put the letter on the fridge. "I just have to get one thing from the basement, come with me." K-mart whispered as she flipped on the basement light and began her descent but froze when she reached the bottom step. "C-Claire? Do you see what I do?" K-mart whispered, her eyes wide, a look of horror filling her face. "Th- The dogs in the cages down here are infected…" K-mart gasped, as she stared in horror at some of her mother's favorite dogs who'd become undead. "Why did they do it? Is this why we're leaving?"

Claire hesitated. "I'll tell you when we get out of here." Claire promised, and she led the girl upstairs, thankful the dogs hadn't seen or heard them, knowing that if they had, they certainly would've woken up Joe and Amy. "Let's get the four dogs from the kennels," Claire said as she guided the blonde up the stairs, shooting a look over her shoulder. K-mart ripped the letter from the fridge. "We have to take Sunny and the others." K-mart demanded. "I won't leave them here to be turned into one of those… things." K-mart growled softly. "There's another trailer behind the barn the hummer can pull. I'll get the horses, and you can Carlos can load the hay. We'll be able to fit the horses and a minimum of a hundred bales of hay. We can pick up others along the way, and even let the horses forage for themselves." K-mart said urgently. Claire bit her bottom lip.

"Okay." She finally said and the trio got to work, filling the trailer with hay and horses and a saddle that would fit all three..As soon as they were finished, K-mart jogged over to the kennel, tying leashes around the two breeding pairs of dogs that Joe and Amy had kept uninfected. What the hell were they thinking? K-mart raged as she loaded the four dogs into the backseat. "Let's get out of here." Claire said. "Fire it up guys." Claire spoke softly into the walkie talkie and they made their way down the driveway. "I'll unlock the gates, then we'll just keep going." K-mart said. She wouldn't do anything to help protect them anymore. Not when they could've killed Claire, K-mart thought, her rage building deep within.

As soon as they hit the gate, K-mart frowned. There were infected pressed against the gate, trying to get in. "I'll unlock the gate." K-mart said softly. "Don't argue with me Claire. It was my fault you were almost killed." K-mart spoke softly, trying not to break down. "I brought you here." K-mart whispered, and she hopped down from the Hummer, unlocking the gate, and she took a deep breath before sliding it open, the undead stumbling after her as she ran back to the Hummer.

"Dahlia!" Joe and Amy screamed as they ran up the driveway completely focused on the girl.

"Let's go!" Claire said and the convoy started moving out, Joe chasing after them, even though it was almost pointless as they were on foot, and against a vehicle they stood no choice. Claire was glad she'd reinforced the front of the hummer as she hit the infected, the dogs growling and barking out the window at the undead. Joe and Amy stepped over the undead they'd ran over, and K-mart watched as two zombies sunk their teeth deep into the adults ankles that she had used to consider her family, and she felt nothing for them. They'd tried to kill the person she'd loved the most, K-mart thought bitterly. "We're stopping at the mall so you can get what you need, then Carlos and I are going to load up on any ammo we can find."

K-mart looked at Claire sadly. "How did you know we were in trouble?" K-mart asked softly, hugging Sage close to her chest, and Claire bit her bottom lip, debating on how much to tell the blonde. "Tell me everything." Claire sighed softly.

"When Joe brought us lunch yesterday, he had put infected blood into my juice. That's why Sage acted like she did, and knocked over the juice, and Joe got pissed off at her." Claire began and then yelped when K-mart had gently pinched her arm.

"Don't cuss Claire." K-mart joked weakly, and Claire laughed softly, reaching out and ruffling Sage's fur gently. "Go on." She said, staring out the window while still directing Claire towards the mall. "Take a left here."

"At the time, I thought he was just being overprotective of you, and he wanted you to stay." Claire admitted as she turned left. "Carlos was having lunch under the kitchen window while the others had been loading up supplies still, and he overheard Joe and Amy talking, that's why he ran over to the garage." Claire spotted the mall, and she turned into the parking lot, and she keyed up the walkie talkie. "It looks clear boys." Claire said softly after studying the outside of the building for a moment.

"Don't they always?" Carlos said softly, as the usual clearing team began loading their weapons and they stood around in a small circle discussing which place to clear first, the ammo store or the mall. After a few more minutes, they headed into the mall, and few shots rang out. K-mart held Sage close, sighing softly at the puppy, praying silently that the clearing team would be fine. They needed to all be safe, she thought, lacing her fingers in the puppy's fine coat.

A tapping on the window made her jump, startling K-mart out of her dark thoughts of what could have happened to Claire. "Hey, the mall is safe, why don't you go get what you need, and be extra careful, because I won't be able to watch you." Claire said, studying K-mart for a few minutes. "Carlos and I are going to go clear the ammo store and start loading, then I'll meet up with you. What store are you going to head too?" K-mart thought about it for a moment.

"Probably one of the clothing stores. I need a new pair of sneakers, then to the pet store." K-mart said after much thought. "I'm going to get a couple of harnesses." Claire nodded.

"I'll join up with you as soon as Carlos and I are done, okay?" Claire said, and kissed K-mart's forehead gently, hugging the younger girl's slender frame to her body, blinking back the tears that threatened to form in her eyes, the result of everything that happened in the past 24 hours.

"Okay." K-mart said softly, inhaling Claire's soft vanilla scent. "I'll try and stay with the group as much as possible." K-mart smiled up at Claire to help alleviate some of her worry, and Claire offered K-mart a small smile before joining Carlos at the front of the ammo store before disappearing into it.

"Come on guys," K-mart mumbled to the dogs who leaped down, obediently, trailing after K-mart and the rest of the convoy, who couldn't stop talking about what stores they were going to visit. K-mart cast her eyes on the ammo store once more before disappearing into the mall heading towards the clothing stores and looking for a new pair of sneakers that would hopefully last longer than the last pair did. K-mart filled up a backpack with new clothes, and a couple of hoodies. K-mart took the escalator stairs two at a time back down, and grinned as she remembered that there was a smoke shop here in the mall, and she beamed as she jogged down the hallway, Sage nipping at her heels. The rest of the dogs had trailed after the rest of the convoy, one of the Rottweilers taking a shine to LJ and Betty.

"Speak of the Devils." K-mart mumbled as she entered the smoke shop.

"What are you doing in here K?" Betty asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl. "I didn't think you smoked."

"I don't smoke, I thought that I'd get something for Claire though before you guys raided the place." K-mart teased.

"We wouldn't do such a thing!" Betty said with mock outrage.

K-mart giggled, as she picked out a few cartons that she knew Claire liked, tucking them into her bag.

"Nice shoes." Betty said eyeing the sneakers. "Where'd you get them?"

"I got them from upstairs. There are a ton more." K-mart said giving Betty directions to the store. "I'm heading to the pet store next." K-mart grinned as she exited the store, and went through the aisles with a basket, picking out collars, leashes, flea and tick medicine, and a couple of harnesses for the puppies. "What do you think Sage?" K-mart asked holding up a pink collar to the puppy. "Eh, maybe for your siblings." K-mart shrugged a bit, tossing them all into the basket. "What next?" She asked herself absentmindedly. "Maybe a couple of new books and movies." K-mart looked up seeing Otto leading the younger kids into the barnes and noble, and K-mart hurried to catch up to the group.

K-mart had picked up a second bag along the way and as she went through the books along the wall, she sighed as she picked up a few romance books, and a couple adventure books before browsing through the movies. "Find anything you like?" Claire asked as she scooped up Sage. K-mart jumped.

"Jesus Claire. You scared the hell out of me." K-mart said, taking a deep breath, trying to catch her breath, only to feel Claire gently hit K-mart's arm.

"Don't cuss." Claire reminded, frowning at the younger girl.

"Sorry," K-mart mumbled and she threw a couple of horror movies into the bag, much to Claire's amusement.

"Can't get enough horror in your life?" Claire teased.

"They do provide some helpful insights." K-mart argued, as she led Claire over to the music section, throwing in a few random soundtracks from movie's she'd already seen. "I just need to head to Victoria Secret." K-mart blushed a little, looking at the ground.

"Okay, everything's loaded already. A couple of the adults that didn't clear finished up here, then came to help us." Claire said, as she trailed after K-mart, watching her hips sway and she shook her head, mumbling to herself. Claire paused as she picked up a couple books on her way out of the bookstore, then a pair of sneakers from a window display. "Off to Victoria's!" Claire dropped the books and sneakers into the shopping basket K-mart carried, taking it from the girl, each of the two selecting new bras and panties that would last them a while.


	11. Chapter 11 Part One

Claire stared across the fire, studying K-mart. For the past two weeks K-mart had taken to avoiding Claire like the plague. Claire sighed and she went back to picking at her dinner, a can of baked beans. A sigh fell from Claire's lips as she stared back down at the ground. She'd missed the blonde's company, she thought as she shifted uncomfortably on the log. Claire knew that K-mart still felt rather guilty for what had happened with Joe and Amy, and that's why she'd taken to sleeping in the deuce or the ambulance. "Hey Carlos, I'm going to take Sun and scout ahead." K-mart said as she stood up, brushing the dust off her.

"Take someone with you." Carlos said, as he crushed his own dinner can, tossing it into a garbage bag. K-mart glanced around the fire, everyone else but Claire seemed to be occupied and K-mart glanced down at her boots. Maybe spending some time with Claire wouldn't be a bad thing, the blonde mused to herself for a few moment. K-mart sighed softly.

"You up for a ride Claire?" K-mart asked softly across the fire, a few heads jerking up as they glanced between the convoy leader and the blonde. For the past two weeks everyone had noticed the tension between the two, and how short tempered Claire was with everyone, most choosing to stay out of the redhead's path, keeping a low profile not to draw attention to themselves.

"If you want." Claire said with a shrug, trying to keep casual while her entire being wanted to jump up and scream yes and do a happy dance around the dancing flames. K-mart nodded slowly, and spun on her heel to the direction of the horse trailer. Claire stood passing her half full can to Carlos. "Here you go," She mumbled softly, and jogged after the blonde. "So, how you've been?" Claire asked, watching as K-mart started to saddle up the horses, and K-mart shrugged, not really in the talking mood.

"Here, you can ride Pegasus." K-mart grumbled, giving Claire a leg up onto the horse. "I just need to get the rifle." K-mart said softly, and jogged back to the deuce where she'd been spending a lot of her time, and double checked to make sure it was loaded, and she dropped a handful of bullets into her pocket, before returning to where Claire sat on the horse, still rather tense, not used to being on the thousand pound animal. K-mart hoisted herself into the saddle, the rifle slung over her back. "Which direction are we headed towards tomorrow?" K-mart asked, the gold horse backing up.

"South." Claire pointed, clinging to the saddle when the silver horse beneath her began ambling after K-mart. K-mart nodded thoughtfully, and she turned her horse in that direction, her eyes scanning the land in both directions. Carlos and the others rarely checked beyond the perimeter for infected. Once the duo was out of earshot and eyesight of the convoy, Claire took the time to study the blonde. She wasn't sleeping well, that much was obvious by the bags under the girl's eyes, and she'd lost some weight that she couldn't really afford to in Claire's opinion. "So how have you been doing?" Claire finally asked.

K-mart glanced at the convoy leader and went back to letting her gaze sweep across the quiet landscape. "Okay." She finally said softly, reaching down to pat her horse's neck. She wasn't doing terrible, but she wasn't doing great either. She was caught somewhere in between struggling to keep from drowning in the emotions that she'd been hiding for the past couple of weeks. Claire glanced down at the blonde's saddle that was starting to show signs of wear.

"I have something for you when we get back. I've been holding onto it since our last stop in your town." K-mart flicked her eyes over to the redhead, pulling the reins sharply her horse jerking his head up in protest, flicking an ear back and rolling his eyes to express his discomfort. K-mart put her mask in place.

"I don't want to talk about that." K-mart said sharply staring into the redhead's emerald eyes. "I almost killed you Claire, and it was my fault. I threw almost everything you taught me about being leery of people because I thought I knew them." K-mart shifted her gaze back over the landscape, giving the horse a pat and mumbling an apology to her mount. "I know how disappointed you are." K-mart said softly, as they rode over the next hill quietly, the only sounds around them were the steady rhythmic sounds of hooves on pavement.

"I'm not disappointed K," Claire said softly, reaching over and squeezing the blonde's shoulder. "In fact, you've probably saved a lot of lives lately." Claire said, and jumped slightly as her horse stumbled.

"He needs his hooves trimmed, I'll do it when we get back to camp." K-mart said her eyes studying the gray horse closely. "I meant to do it yesterday, but I didn't have time I was in charge of splitting wood yesterday." Claire nodded and bit her lip. Things were so tense between them now, and tears slipped down Claire's cheek silently, and she looked away. She didn't need K-mart to see her like this.

"Look at that." K-mart whispered softly, pointing to the horde of infected that surrounded a small gas station. "The dead don't do that unless there's a human inside there." K-mart growled softly. "Of all times not to have Carlos with me." K-mart inhaled sharply and Claire studied the girl. "We can't leave whoever it is Claire." K-mart finally turned her brown eyes to the leader. K-mart bit her bottom lip and dropped her horse's reins, handing Claire her rifle. "Take this, and you go and rescue whoever it is." K-mart offered a weak smile to the convoy leader, placing the extra bullets she took into the red head's pocket. "I'll distract them."

"Absolutely not K-mart. I'm not going to lose you." Claire growled at the blonde. "We'll ride back to camp and get Carlos and Chase."

"There's not enough time Claire, that glass won't be able to hold the infected back for much longer. I'm also the better rider, so I can lead the horde away from the gas station. You'll have just enough time to go down there, rescue or lead whoever is in there to safety, and get back.." K-mart trailed off softly, and reached under her shirt. "If I don't make it back Claire, I want you to have these. However, I'll do my damn best to make sure that I come and get them back." She pressed her dog tags into the convoy leaders hand. "Take care of Sage." K-mart murmured, "I love you Claire." K-mart said and she took a deep breath, kicking her horse into a steady trot. The horse side stepped a bit at the scent of the undead. "It's okay Sun," K-mart tried soothing the panicking animal, and she glanced back in the direction of Claire once more, nodding her head to the redhead.

Urging Sunny into a steady canter, she had the horse circle around the gas station, catching the attention of the undead in the area, and distracting them from what was inside the gas station just like she'd intended, the zombies turning and shuffling after her. "Fuck." K-mart said softly, her eyes skimming around the town. Her best bet was to lead them further south. She slowed her horse a little, having him pace himself. He'd need his speed for the return, if they were able to return. K-mart doubted her plan for a moment but shook her head. "No time for that." She mumbled to herself, as she started leading the undead towards the city limits, like she would have done to lead the cattle.

K-mart glanced back over her shoulder, seeing Claire going down the hill on the horse, and K-mart smiled to herself. If Claire could save the people inside the gas station, then anything that happened after that would be worth it, she thought, biting her bottom lip, the zombies were moaning loudly, attracting the attention of even more undead around the city. Things were starting to get dangerous around here- one or two zombies were absolutely fine. She could have handled them. But the sheer amount that were following her were overwhelming- zombies in a horde were more dangerous, they became faster, more aggressive.

K-mart spotted the baseball bat on top of the car, and she urged Sun into a canter, leaning down to the left of the horse, her hand out stretched. "We have one shot at this buddy, just like we used to practice." K-mart mumbled to the horse, his ear flickering slightly, and he let out a soft snort, indicating her was listening to her. Her fingers wrapped around the object and she let out a cheer.

"Got it." K-mart grinned and glanced over her shoulder, turning pale. There was certainly more zombies than when she first started. "Fuck this," K-mart growled softly. K-mart had the horse canter down the road, swinging at the zombies that got in her path, effectively taking them out, blood splattering, covering K-mart's torso. "Disgusting." K-mart hissed. "These were my favorite jeans, asshole!" She growled at the infected. If K-mart had been paying more attention, she would have noticed the ladder sticking out, and she could have ducked, but she didn't.

She screamed out in pain as the ladder caught her across the ribs, and she heard the sickening crack as she fell towards the ground. "Sunny, Home!" She called to the horse. Horses had a wonderful sense of direction, and she watched as the horse disappeared around a corner and was gone. "Fuck." K-mart mumbled as she laid on the ground, listening as her scream echoed around the empty city. She was fucked.

BSH~ Don't you dream impossible dreams


	12. Chapter 11 Part 2

AN: So, so sorry guys. I kept trying to post but kept getting error after error! I'm posting this part and I apologize in advance to you guys, especially you PrincessLia . You can throw things at me later. I'm definitely going to TRY to post chapter 12 today to if FF isn't giving me too much trouble. I'd never keep you guys waiting that long (or woiuld I?)

Disclaimer: If I had owned most of the RE characters than the movies would have been much longer, Claire, K-mart and Carlos would have a lot more screen time, and I'd be a lot more richer.

Chapter 11 Part Two

Claire wiped at her eyes roughly as she watched K-mart leading the infected away from the gas station. If- no not if- when that girl got back to camp, Claire was going to give K-mart a piece of her mind for her sheer stupidity, Claire thought, as she placed the dog tags in the breast pocket of her vest right above her heart. "I love you Claire." K-mart's words flickered through her mind over and over again.

"Damn her." Claire said softly as she watched K-mart disappear out of sight, followed by all the zombies in the area. Claire gently urged the horse down the hill, trying to remember everything that K-mart had taught her about how to direct the horse. She leaped from the horse to the ground as she opened the gas station. "Hello?" Claire asked, looking around, and she spotted two kids curled up in the corner.

The first girl had to have been K-mart's age, the other a boy about 11. "We have to get out of here," Claire whispered to the two. "Lets go before they come back. We need to hurry." Claire said urgently. "Have either of you been bitten?"

"No. We've been holed up here for weeks," The girl mumbled. "I'm Sadie, and this is my brother Tom." The girl introduced. "How are we getting out of here?" The girl's blue eyes glanced up at the redhead.

"Your hero's horse." Claire mumbled as she led the two kids out to where the horse stood impatiently, his head swinging about every few moments as if he could scent the danger in the area. "I'll give you a boost, but we have to move." Claire said, her green eyes flicking in the direction that the horde went. "Hold on tight." Claire instructed as she turned back in the direction of the convoy, saying a soft prayer that K-mart would be okay. Claire didn't know what she'd do if something happened to that girl, Claire thought, wiping the tears away as she began the thirty minute walk towards where everyone was waiting.

Claire heard the scream, and she tensed up, and burst into tears. "No! K-mart." She sobbed, and spun on her heel, her heart breaking with every step as she raced in the direction of the scream. Nothing could happen to the girl, Claire thought to herself as she climbed onto the roof of a nearby building, looking in every direction for a glimpse of the blonde and her horse, but she couldn't see anything. "DAMN IT." Claire screamed as she lifted the rifle to her shoulder and began firing at the infected. Once they turned in Claire's direction, towards where the two kids were, Claire knew that she had to go. Claire mounted the horse, swinging her body up behind the two kids, and she urged the horse into a canter, pointing him towards the convoy, her tears streaming down her face. The horse only slowed as they came into sight of the camp, and as soon as they passed the perimeter, Claire jumped down from the horse, her legs buckling as she fell into the grass, a tall figure running towards her."T-take them to Betty." She didn't even look up to see who it was when she issued the command, clearly going into shock, her legs pulled up to her chest and she rocked back and forth.

"Claire, Claire, look at me. Where's K-mart? What happened to her Claire!" Carlos said, studying the redhead's face. The sound of galloping hoofbeats on the sand made the pair stop and turn, and there entering the camp riderless was K-mart's gold colored horse, his body covered in red blood, making Claire sob even harder, her arms wrapping around Carlos.

The convoy stood there in absolute silence, shock radiating through them. K-mart was literally the light of the convoy, and now… she was gone. Sage barked softly upon seeing the gold horse's return, and she tilted her head staring at the sight in front of her, searching around the convoy for her mistress, and then she laid down by the fire, letting out a series of soft whimpers when she couldn't find her anywhere.

Betty moved the kids into the ambulance, checking them over. The kids looked around at the bleakness of the convoy, and Betty gently patted their hands. "Don't worry, they'll come around and welcome you in soon, this loss just hit really close to home for many." Betty whispered, her tears welling up in her eyes as she treated the two newcomers minor injuries.

Jack one of the kids that K-mart had been teaching to tend to the horses had stepped forward. "I- I'll wash down the horses and feed them for the night." The kid mumbled softly as he gathered the reins, leading the horses over to the trailer while he quickly washed the blood off of the gold horse so he didn't lick at himself and infect himself. Jack's bottom lip wobbled a bit as he tried to stay strong.

Claire let go of Carlos after a few more minutes. "T-take care of things tonight." Claire mumbled and she climbed into the Hummer, locking herself into the vehicle to avoid having to talk to anyone else, her tears running down her cheeks as she took out the dog tags, running her fingers over K-mart's name, over and over again. Wondering why K-mart had to go and do it. She allowed herself to break down, still hearing K-mart's screams echoing through her mind, her arms wrapping around herself, and she cried herself to sleep, clinging to one of the teen blonde's hoodies.

AN: The End! Just kidding . Don't throw things at me. I'm going to update again soon, hopefully tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 12

AN: So, how much do you all hate me right now? Let's see if this chapter starts to make up for it!

Later that night….

The sound of an approaching engine drew everyone from their sleeping spots, Claire was the first one out of her Hummer, the rifle from K-mart fully loaded and pointed at the approaching car. "Get out slowly, with your hands raised." Claire shouted, not taking any chances. Perhaps this was another survivor or survivors that K- no, stop Claire, she's gone, Claire mentally scolded herself, as Carlos shined a search light at the vehicle that had pulled to a stop. The door of the car slowly opened, and a blood covered boot was dropped into the ground, followed by a second one, and a slender body collapsing onto the ground. "K-K-mart?" Claire stuttered, dropping the rifle and running to the collapsed body.

"Carlos! Help me carry her to the ambulance! We have to check her for scratches and bites. There's something wrong with her." Claire yelled and Carlos dropped the light, almost breaking it as he scrambled to help carry the girl to the van for safety. Murmurs of fear and joy swept through the convoy, wondering if the girl they'd all come to know and love was infected, if she'd be okay.

"Chase, I need water now so we can clean K-mart up!" Betty shouted from the ambulance as she threw open the doors, throwing a clean sheet over the gurney that laid in the middle. Betty was snapping on rubber gloves and getting out a brand new face cloth and sponge. "We need to strip her then wash her." Betty spoke urgently as she felt the girl's forehead. "She's not burning up so that's a good sign."

Claire was crying over K-mart as she helped tug of K-mart's pants. The shirt had to be cut off though, and K-mart laid there on the gurney in a pair of panties and her bra, shivering slightly. There was a rapidly forming bruise growing across her ribcage, and Betty gently prodded at it. "Cracked, but not broken." I don't see any cuts, or bites Claire." Betty mumbled softly as Chase handed a bowl of warm water into the ambulance.

"Is she going to be okay?" Chase asked, staring at the ground. He'd been busy at dinner, so he felt like a lot of this was his fault as it was usually him who would take a ride with K-mart in the evening. If he'd went with her, it would've been him lying there, and not K-mart. The guilt had been eating at him all night.

"She has cracked ribs, but Betty thinks she's going to be just fine." Claire murmured softly, and climbed back into the ambulance, beginning to gently clean the blood off of the teen's slender frame, tears silently streaming down her face. "God K-mart, I love you so much, I don't know what I would've done without you," Claire mumbled, brushing her lips across K-mart's clean forehead, and she'd gently squeezed K-mart's hand, her other hand running through K-mart's blood streaked blonde hair.

"Don't worry Claire, she's a fighter. She'll probably be experiencing some symptoms when she first wakes up." Betty murmured as she continued to check K-mart's head, neck, spine and belly to make sure there were no other injuries. Satisfied that she didn't miss anything, Betty took out an ice pack, and she placed it upon K-mart's side. " She'll need extra rest, aspirin. While she's healing, she'll need to cough or take deep breaths at least once an hour, it will help prevent pneumonia or a partial collapse of the lungs."

"Chase, we need a five gallon bucket, and some more warm water so we can wash out K-mart's hair." Betty said softly to the older cowboy who was sitting by the tires, waiting for more news like most of the adults of the convoy who thought of K-mart as their own family. "She'll be fine. She'll just need time to heal. " Betty said softly, as she patted the cowboy's shoulder. "You should get some sleep, we'll probably be leaving first thing in the morning." Betty spoke softly, as she glanced in the direction from which K-mart came from.

Betty gently began washing K-mart's hair, and when she was finished, she patted it dry using a towel. "No point in getting her sick." Betty mumbled, and gently draped a warm blanket over K-mart's slender frame. When she glanced back to tell Claire something, she spotted the redhead sound asleep, her head brushing against K-mart's. Betty climbed out of the ambulance and smiled after emptying the bloody water a good distance from the camp, so that no one would worry about being contaminated.

The Next Morning….

K-mart groaned softly, and coughed a little, holding her side, trying to move her face away from what was tickling her, only to see red hair resting on the gurney beside her. K-mart gently leaned over, tapping Claire's shoulder. "What time is it?" K-mart mumbled softly, struggling to sit up.

"About time to get on the road K-" Claire mumbled softly, and she glared down at the girl. "You and I are going to have one long fucking talk about putting yourself in danger. If you ever, ever do something like this again, I will personally kill you myself." Claire glared at the younger blonde. K-mart winced from the loudness of Claire's voice.

"Could you tone it down just a little Claire, my head's throbbing and I'm not even going to mention my right side." K-mart mumbled, as she rolled until her feet touched the floor, then glanced down, blushing a bit. "Can I have some clothes?" K-mart mumbled as she looked away, clearly embarrassed at being half naked in front of her crush.

"They're right here K-mart." Betty said as she popped in through the back doors. "The convoy is already packed up to leave Claire. We're just waiting on K-mart to see where she wants to ride, and for you two to have breakfast. Baked beans." Betty said with a grin, holding up two warm cans.

"I'm not exactly hungry." K-mart mumbled rubbing her head slowly., and Betty unscrewed a water bottle and held two asprin out to the blonde girl, and K-mart took them obediently, taking two big swallows of water, and K-mart bit her bottom lip. "D-do you think that Sage and I could ride with you Claire?" K-mart asked, blushing a little bit as she stared at her bare feet,

Claire's head snapped up and she almost choked on her mouthful of beans. "After the heart attack you almost gave me last night? Do you think I'm going to let you out of my sight for five minutes?" Claire asked, her green eyes darkening. K-mart shook her head and she carefully maneuvered herself so she tugged on a pair of loose fitting sweatpants, and Claire came over to help K-mart with her teeshirt.

"How long am I going to be out of commission for Betty?" Claire looked over to the african american woman, curious to know the answer as well.

"A minimum of six weeks." Betty said. "No lifting heavy stuff, no riding. Strictly supervising." Betty finished, staring at K-mart to make sure she understood, and K-mart grumbled, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sneak off at any point with everyone watching her every move around the camp. She'd have to learn to sneak away from Claire when she was occupied with Carlos and the others, she thought to herself, as she took another mouthful of water.

"So, did you get there in time last night?" K-mart asked as Claire gently lifted her from the waist, helping her down from the ambulance.

"Yeah, I don't remember the kids names though." Claire admitted. "I was kind of a wreck last night." Claire wrapped her arms around the younger blonde, gently hugging her. "Never, ever, ever do that to me again K. I don't think I'll be able to handle it." Claire spoke softly, her emerald eyes filled with tears. Claire reached into her vest, and gently pulled out K-mart's dog tags, and slid them over her head. "I love you too much, and I can't lose you," Claire whispered, resting her head on top of K's for a moment.

"Hey Claire, Sage is in the Hummer." Carlos said with a small smile as he hugged K-mart gently minding the blonde's sore ribs. "You are in so much trouble with me later Miss K-mart." Carlos said. "You're just so lucky I'm so happy to see you awake!" He exclaimed. "I'll help you into the Hummer. We're heading out in ten minutes. The DVD player is set up in the front so that you can watch a movie." Carlos continued, kissing the top of her head gently. "I'm glad you okay K," He said softly, "You gave us all quite the scare." He said softly, studying the girl's face. Losing her would have been like losing his own daughter.

K-mart bit her bottom lip gently. "I'm sorry, but I knew that the gas station wouldn't be able to hold up much longer. I had to do something. By time we would've gotten back, it probably would have been to late, and I was the obvious choice, as I'm the better rider. The horde had made Sun nervous, so I kept glancing over my shoulder, making sure they didn't get too close to us. I found a bat and started taking some of the infected out. I looked away for too long the last time though, and I didn't notice a ladder hanging out across the road. Sunny just fit under it, but since we were going fast, and I was distracted- I didn't see it and it got me across my chest and I fell off. I had sent Sunny back here. I figured I'd stand a better chance alone. There was a car up ahead that had been unlocked and had keys in it, there was plenty of gas, so I drove around a few times until I was sure that I lost them, and then I doubled back here." K-mart explained as Carlos lifted her into the front seat of the Hummer. "I was going to take a motorcycle, but I couldn't lift it up because of my ribs. I think I had done more damage to them while trying to lift it off the ground." K-mart admitted as she walked slowly towards the hummer with the adults on either side of her.

K-mart carefully opened the Hummer door, wincing as she agitated her ribs, wincing at the flash of pain that shot through her, but she quickly schooled her features, something she'd learned to do from a rather young age. She swung her leg up into the vehicle, and pushed herself in rather carefully, trying not to move around so much, and she beamed as she seen the little red and white puppy in the seat beside her. "Hey pretty girl, I missed you," K-mart cooed to the puppy. Carlos went back to the deuce and fired it up, while Claire went around the front of the hummer, and climbed in beside K-mart.

"Let's fire it up and get out of here guys." Claire muttered softly, the convoy turning onto the road, the red headed leader glancing at the blonde every few minutes, looking like she was going to say something, and then closing her mouth on more than one occasion. Finally after about an hour on the road, Claire spoke. "Not many people would be willing to risk their life because they thought that someone would be in there." Claire began, her fingernails tapping against the steering wheel. "There could've been other ways we could have handled the situation last night though K-mart, that didn't involve putting you in danger." Claire sighed softly, and bit her bottom lip as she tried choosing her next words carefully. " I can't have running off like that again though K," Claire bit her lip. "I really don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. From now on we'll work together as a team, okay? No more playing hero." Claire reached over, gently squeezing K-mart's thigh. "I love you too much to lose."

K-mart smiled at Claire, and scooted over on the seat, resting her head on Claire's shoulder. "I love you too Claire, and no more playing hero for a long time." K-mart promised as she snuggled into the redhead, letting out a soft yawn.

"Sleep for a while, we're going to be driving for another couple of hours." Claire said softly, wrapping one hand around the girl, her eyes focused on the road ahead of her as she pondered about what the future would and could hold in store for the convoy.


	14. Chapter 13

K-mart grunted softly as she shifted positions in the Hummer. No longer did she feel pain with every single bump that the vehicle had hit- more like a minor irritation. It had been three and a half weeks since her rescue mission, and things were no longer as tense around the campfire. They'd lost a handful of convoy members in the last raid to stock up on some of their dwindling medical supplies. "But Claire," K-mart whined just a little bit. "I don't want to have to continue to sit on the sidelines and do nothing."

"No buts K-mart. You're not allowed to lift things or to go riding until you're fully healed. No more trying to sneak off to ride either." Claire glared at the shorter blonde who'd just turned 17 years old. "You could have seriously injured yourself again!" Claire stared into K-mart's brown eyes for a moment before flicking her eyes back to the road. "So for now, your job is inventory." Claire beamed at the girl, clearly happy to rid herself of the task.

K-mart and laid back down resting her head in Claire's lap. "So not fair, you know that's the most hated job in the convoy, beside dishes!" K-mart grumbled a bit and leaned forward, taking a sip from her bottle of Coke that she'd picked up at the last stop, then screwed the top back on. "We could work on it together." K-mart proposed, eager to spend a little more time with the redhead.

Claire thought it over for a few minutes, as much as she hated doing inventory, she absolutely loved spending time with the younger blonde. "Fine, maybe we can make it fun somehow." Claire said doubtfully, and rolled her shoulders. They'd been on the road for most of the day, and she was starting to get cramped up from being in the same position for so long.

"Want me to drive for a bit?" K-mart asked softly, seeing how uncomfortable Claire was and had become in the past few minutes.

"Nah, we're gonna be pulling over soon, I'm getting tired so you know the rest of them are too." Claire grinned down at the younger girl ruffling her hair gently. "Then I'll set up a tent, maybe we can stay a couple of days." Claire murmured softly, her eyes sweeping the area. "We haven't seen many infected for the past couple of miles." Claire said thoughtfully, her emerald eyes becoming a shade lighter as they normally did when she was lost in her thoughts.

"It would be nice, we haven't really stayed anywhere for a while now." K-mart said, and Claire nodded before she explained herself.

"I haven't really felt comfortable in any of the places we've visited. There was always a big city near by, and I didn't want to risk staying there, god knows how many of those things we could or would have attracted." Claire picked up the walkie talkie, barely shifting her weight. "Hey Carlos, there looks like a clear area up ahead, want to stop there set up for the night?" Claire asked as she began slowing down.

"Hell yeah, I've been ready to stop for the past 30 minutes Claire." A chorus of agreements with Carlos came through, and Claire laughed, turning off the road and into the open field, and shutting off the engine, tilting the seat back with a soft groan.

"Thank god." Claire muttered softly, and stretched, her back arching and shirt riding up exposing a hint of her flat stomach. K-mart blushed and glanced away, staring up at the roof of the vehicle trying to focus on anything but the hint of skin she saw, and she closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. She sighed, reaching down and gently toying with K-mart's hair. "What do you want for dinner?" She asked softly, as she reached for the door.

Aside from you, K-mart thought to herself. "Cereal if you can find some." K-mart smiled. "I'll get it myself though, I'm gonna feed Sage." K-mart said sitting up and groaning as she stretched, some of her muscles cramped from being in the same position for so long. K-mart swung open the hummer door and wiggled to the edge of the seat before hopping onto the ground, and stumbling before regaining her footing. Claire watched for a moment shaking her head as she exited the car as well, closing the door behind her and wandering over towards Carlos and the others to catch up on things she needed, and to grab a pack of smokes from Otto, her eyes following K-mart as she wandered over to the trailer where they kept the animal supplies, watching her face light up as she spotted one of the kids already there starting chores.

Claire couldn't help the smile that spread over her face as she watched the slightly younger blonde. She had grown up so fast, Claire thought with a soft sigh as she reached for her last cigarette, lighting it taking a deep puff. "So what do you think Claire?" Betty asked, drawing her attention back to the group.

"Huh?" Claire asked looking absolutely lost for a moment, and she turned her back towards the blonde.

"About trying this town here for gas. The tanker is about three quarters full, and we'd like to keep it that way, or fuller in case of emergency." Claire nodded thoughtfully.

"That sounds good. If Chase, Hunter and Dan want to head to check out the town tomorrow, the rest of us will stay and hang out here." Claire decided. "It's a small town so there shouldn't be that many infected, plus the less people there are, the less chance of the infected scenting you guys, and following you back to camp." Claire sighed and took another puff of her cigarette before putting out, and putting the half back into her back and leaning against the ambulance her eyes flicking over the convoy, before she finally settled her gaze on K-mart, following the blonde's movements.

Betty followed her gaze and laughed softly, more to herself as the guys walked away, starting to build up a few fires for the convoy members to sit around and talk amongst themselves, most having been separated for most of the day. "She loves you, you know." Betty said out of no where, or so it seemed to Claire, who snapped her head towards the other woman.

"Who?" She asked, deciding to play stupid for the time being.

"K-mart." Betty said as she finished up her own cigarette, studying the blonde. "She's growing up quite fast." Betty said, as she shoved the pack into her back pocket, and leaned back against the van. "Faster than you realize She's becoming a lot like you," she mused, digging her hands into the pockets of her jeans, rocking back and forth on her heels. "She's been showing a lot more leadership skills lately, since she hasn't been able to tend to her animals herself. She's taken a few of the kids under her wing." Betty used her head to motion to where K-mart and a couple of the older kids had gathered.

"I guess she has," Claire said softly, studying the girl who had managed to capture her heart in the past year, the only one she'd allowed to get close to her, aside from Carlos who'd helped save her life just outside of Raccoon City shortly before K-mart had came into her life. The sun was starting to go down now, and Claire closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh. Nothing was ever what it seemed anymore, The sound of K-mart's giggle filled the air, and Claire smiled at the noise, her heart fluttering a bit, and Claire found herself studying the girl again.

After dinner, the kids slowly drifted off one by one to bed, until Claire, K-mart, Mikey, Carlos, lJ and Betty remained, no one missing the looks that passed between the redhead and the blonde. K-mart shivered and Claire stood up, moving around the fire and sitting beside the blonde, Claire sitting behind the blonde and wrapping her arms around the younger girl, pulling her in close, and taking out her blanket, wrapping it around the both of them, Claire's head resting on K-mart's shoulder as she stared into the dying flames.

"So are we staying here for a couple days?" Carlos asked softly, as he shifted, stretching out and leaning back against a log that they'd dragged over.

"Same rules apply, we can stay until we see a couple of infected show up, after that we'll be on the move again." Claire said softly, her fingers lacing with Kmart's under the blanket. Claire tried to stifle a yawn, but failed terribly. "I think i'm gonna hit the hay, you coming K?" Claire asked, tiling her head at the girl who nodded.

"Absolutely." K-mart said softly, and slowly stood up, the duo flipping the front seat of the hummer down and climbing in, little Sage trailing after them and hopping in, the door shutting quietly as not to disturb the others.

"So what's going on between them?" Carlos asked, watching the two wander off together, his eyebrows knit together. Betty snickered, and stood up, heading towards the ambulance, leaving behind some very confused men.

AN: As you may have noticed I have a lot of "filler" chapters so I don't bounce around to much and confuse the hell out of you, anyway I hope you guys enjoy!

~BSH~ Don't you dream impossible dreams


	15. Biology Lessons and Trouble for Carlos

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own resident evil, but am in the process of searching for my own Sage!

"No groaning Kmart, it's only a couple of lessons." Claire smiled at the younger blonde, and reached out, ruffling the girl's hair. "I'll be back in a little bit," She said softly offering the girl another smile of encouragement before heading off to the news van, the blonde's brown eyes following the redhead's every step, before flicking back to the biology book that Claire had placed in her lap, and she let out a soft sigh.

"This is stupid," The blonde muttered darkly to herself as she grabbed a notebook, mechanical pencil, and the dumb biology book and she exited the yellow hummer. If she was going to do this, she was going to do this outside, not cooped up in the back seat. She dropped down onto the ground in front of the fire, and she thumbed open the text book, reading the introduction, and snorting at the very first sentence of. "Biology is the study of living things." She read aloud.

"Not very helpful in this world, huh?" A very familiar voice said as the ex umbrella soldier sat down beside the teen, who beamed at her. Finally someone who understood where she was coming from, she thought.

"Exactly! There's barely anything living anymore. Plants which thrived in environments like this are shrivelling up and dying. Animals that were once pets or wildlife are either infected, dying or trying to eat us, and at least 75% of the human population died, then rose, and are trying to take a bite out of our asses!" Kmart ranted, then stared at the book once again. "I don't get why Claire thinks it's so important I learn this stuff, it's not like we have any more use for it," K-mart spoke softly, deep in thought to the man she considered to be both a close friend and father figure.

"Claire's trying to give you a glimpse of a normal life, pre-infection. Most of us in the convoy already know this having had to study it ourselves." Carlos admitted as he glanced around the camp. "I'll give you a hand with this." Carlos smiled and he opened the book and began to read to her, his voice soothing. After a couple of lines he raised an eyebrow at her. "Why aren't you taking notes?" Kmart rolled her eyes and flipped open to a blank sheet of paper and began writing.

When Carlos finished reading the section, he began to quiz the girl, and Kmart decided to play along with the soldier."What's the difference between anatomy and physiology?"

Kmart scrunched up her nose. "Anatomy is the study of the structure of living things while physiology deals with life activities of plants and animals." Kmart quoted word for word from the book, and Carlos grinned at the girl.

"Correct!" He spoke cheerfully, and then mumbled under his breath. "Odio studiare." Kmart tilted her head at the soldier, eyeing him curiously.

"Huh?" She aked.

"Odio studiare." Carlos repeated himself as he moved onto the next study question, asking her to explain the difference between botany and ecology, and she provided the correct answer, and she bit her bottom lip. "What does odio studiare mean Carlos?" K asked, repeating the words he spoke almost perfectly, frowning.

"It means I hate studying in Italian." Carlos supplied, and he grinned impishly at the teen. "I was good at my classes, and got decent marks. Mostly As, a couple of Bs." He flicked his eyes at the book, his lip curling in obvious disgust, barely able to hide the contempt he held for the text. "I always learned much more from people than the books." He admitted, thinking back to his days with his unit traveling around the world.

"Where did you learn Italian?" Kmart asked eagerly, closing the textbook, noticing the distant look in the soldier's eyes, one he usually only had when he was sad, like when he thought of his life before the outbreak, or when they lost a member of the convoy that he'd been friendly with. Carlos offered the teen a half smile.

"From my old friend and fellow squad member, Nicholai."

Kmart frowned, trying to remember who he was, knowing that Carlos had spoken about that particular soldier before. "How many languages do you speak?" The girl asked, tucking her legs beneath her and staring at the older man expectantly.

"I speak a little Italian, French, Spanish, Russian, English and very little German." Carlos spoke softly. "I was in the process of learning German after the outbreak from someone that I'd met up with in Raccoon City.

"Will you teach me what you know?" Kmart asked eagerly.

"Everything except French." Carlos promised the teen, then went on to explain that a certain redhead would want to teach her herself, and Kmart nodded thoughtfully.

"I hope so," Kmart admitted to the soldier. "Since I've gotten hurt, the only real time I've gotten to spend with Claire is when we're in the deuce doing inventory." Kmart picked up a stick, and began poking at the dying fire with a stick.

"She'll come back around K," Carlos promised. "We're in the middle of nowhere, our supplies are low, and Claire wants to avoid a city raid but it's going to be next to impossible." Carlos spoke softly as he tugged the blonde into his lap, and cuddled with her.

"Carlos, what happened to your dog, and LJ's?" Kmart asked softly, still having no idea what had happened at the gas station a few days ago. All Claire had said was the dogs hadn't made it, and the teen toyed with the bottom of her tee shirt. "I meant to ask when you, LJ and Claire got back from scouting." K whispered softly.

"They were tough soldiers," Carlos began. "We ran into a small hoard of the zombies, and one of them snuck up behind Claire, and was about to bite her when Princess attacked the zombie as it was trying to take a bite out of Claire. She must have gotten bitten, or scratched, or something, because she turned. Then Hero attacked her. We tied him up to see if he'd turn and he did." Carlos said softly, toying with a lock of the teen's hair absent mindedly. "Claire and I buried them beneath a weeping willow a few yards from the gas station."

K couldn't help but smile, even though they'd been dogs, Carlos and Claire had had taken the time to bury the animals who'd been showing such braveness and loyalty to their masters, right up until the end. "Hero managed to find Jack and Maggie before he turned." Carlos smiled at the memory.

The pair had been so engrossed in their conversation, they didn't notice when Claire approached, both jumping slightly when she sat down beside them. "Jack's taken up the official title of convoy chef," Claire said with a tiny laugh, yawning and she leaned against Carlos, resting her head on his shoulder. She hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

"Want to take a walk later K?" Claire asked softly, feeling more than shy about her offer, knowing that she'd been pushing the teen away a bit since the gas station, distancing herself from the blonde when the nightmares and sleepless nights began. The added stress of an upcoming city raid weighed heavily on her mind.

"Sure!" Kmart said eagerly, practically jumping on the invitation, and nodding, making Claire feel more than guilty for being so distant lately Claire smiled gently at K, before gazing into the fire.

This month had been a living hell for the convoy leader. It was taking it's toll on her mentally, which generally left the redhead physically drained. Sleep, which the redhead used to consider to be a treat, and escape from her living hell had now became a nightmare, and she found herself haunted by Kmart's screams from when she'd decided to play hero, images of her battered and bruised in the ambulance flashed before her eyes, and even thoughts of K getting bitten filled Claire's every waking and sleeping moment. Claire sighed softly, and stretched. "So did you finish todays lesson?" Claire's emerald eyes flicked from the flames to Kmart's face, and the blonde nodded.

"Yeah, and Carlos quizzed me. Did you know he speaks a ton of other languages?" Kmart asked, her voice soft and filled with awe. "He said he'd teach me most of what he knew." K continued, beginning to ramble as she passed her notebook to Claire, so the redhead could check her work, and the notes she'd taken.

Claire praised the blonde's hard work, giggling as a blur of red and white fur crashed into the trio. "Hi Sagey." The three greeted the little ball of energy. "She's going up so fast," Carlos commented, stroking the pups silky smooth head.

Kmart nodded in agreement, and Claire stretched once more, her green shirt riding up on her flat stomach, making K's mouth go dry, her eyes widening. "I'm gonna take a nap before our walk." Claire said, rolling to her feet, and she watched as disappointment flashed across K's features. "Want to join me?" Kmart grinned and nodded, trailing after the redhead, and Carlos glanced at the puppy.

"You gonna leave me too Sage?" Carlos asked, glancing down at the pup, and thoughts of taking a nap himself, since he had the late shift tonight filled his mind and he thought twice about it. The pup began chasing her tail, and he couldn't help but laugh at her antics, and he stood, wandering off to the deuce to change into a pair of shorts and a tank top. "Hunter, I'm gonna go for a run towards town, and then back. I should only be a couple hours." Carlos informed the guard on duty, tucking his knife into his sheath, and jogging off in the direction of the town he'd found a day ago, the last time he'd went running.

Carlos took his position of authority in the convoy serious, keeping up a steady work out routine as he wasn't getting any younger he thought dryly to himself, shaking his head. In Detroit his workouts were the highlight of his time, he'd gotten to spend alone time with Alice, who'd kept up easily with him, and usually challenged him. Hell even Jill and Angie had joined the pair on occasion

He felt a slight twinge of pain at the thought of his old friends, and he picked up the pace, pushing himself even harder, attempting to leave the thoughts of the girls behind him. Sage had been running beside him, surprising the soldier. He hadn't even noticed the pup's presence before now. Carlos focused on keeping his breathing steady and even. He'd hit the town faster than he realized, and he slowed as he reached the little white ranch style house, scrambling up the steps, and panting softly. Had the soldier been paying more attention, he would have noticed the two new cars parked by the house.

"You thirsty Sage?" The soldier asked, as he opened up the door, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun. "Fuck.".

AN: Poor Carlos, always getting into that I've managed to sneak onto my mother's computer to give you all a quick update, I'll tell you that my computer still hasn't been fixed! I've been writing still and if it wasn't for my mother yelling at me to get off her computer and do her laundry, dishes, and cooking dinner (which I agreed to do in exchange for an hour online!) I'd post another chapter! I'm going to try and update again soon! Thanks for all your updates, reviews, favorites and follows. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned you guys or this story! If I did I have a feeling that there'd be a few… unhappy campers. Anyway, back to my phone to finish reading Reality Check, I want to go get my fill of Alice and Claire .


	16. Meeting up with the convoy

AN: It was a great guess kk, however you'll have to read to see who it really is! I'm always going, angelsgir and I can write from my phone, then email it to myself, and finally I can post the chapters when my mother lets me on, and I'm glad to see you like it Zach. I started a new story, but don't worry guys, this story will be taking priority until this is finished.

**CARLOS**

Carlos stared at the barrel of the shotgun, chocolate eyes wide with fear. He knew damn well he should have been paying more attention, but he couldn't help being so lost in thought about a certain blonde. He swallowed heavily, and raised his hands slowly. "look, I didn't mean any harm, I was just using the house as a resting point. I'll just take my dog and go no-" Carlos finally glanced up at the figure holding the gun, and he paused. "Nicholai?" Carlos looked absolutely dumbfounded. He frowned reaching for his combat knife. He knew for a fact that Nicholai had been killed by infected dogs in Raccoon City while attempting to rescue Angela Ashford from Raccoon City Junior High.

"You know reaching for your knife wouldn't really be welcome. A hug maybe... but stabbing someone seems a little drastic, does it not, Uncle Carlos?" A female voice with a slight British accent piped up from behind the former soldier, and he grinned, running down the stairs and he took the girl- no the teen in one arm swinging her around.

"Angie!" by now the former soldier was giddy. She'd grown quite a bit, he'd noticed. She was around 5'4 inches, and 110 lbs with slight curves. She still dressed well, he noted. She had to have been 18 by now, he thought as he ruffled the girl's wavy hair slightly.

A grumble came from the living room off to the left hand side of his former partner. "I know its exciting and all Olivera, but do you think you can keep it down before you draw the attention of every infected within a five mile radius?" a very familiar voice quipped, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions until he saw her for himself. Carlos felt his knees going weak, and he set Angie down on the ground. As he went to check the living room someone interrupted.

"Move your ass old man, this bag is heavy." the raven haired beauty Jill Valentine piped in as she brushed past Carlos, giving Nicholai a kiss on the cheek. "And stop pointing that at Carlos, it's not him that's infected." Jill shook her head. Nicholai's cheeks turned slightly pink and he lowered his weapon slowly clearly embarrassed.

"Sorry brother, Alice could smell slight infection and sent me to deal with the problem." Nicholai finally said, looking around for the source of the infection. Carlos almost barreled over Nicholai in his need to get to the woman who had been haunting his thoughts and dreams since they'd been separated. He knelt beside the sprawled out figure on the couch, gently lifting the cool, damp face cloth off of the blonde's face, his breath hitching, and heart skipping a beat.

"Hi." He certainly wouldn't be getting any awards for his greeting. What did one say to a former lover who you ran to in the peak of a zombie apocalypse anyway? Carlos leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers ever so softly, whispering her name like a prayer. Alice smiled weakly at the soldier.

"Hi." she said softly, as he gently ran his fingers through her hair and she began to blush herself. "I missed you,"

"You have so much explaining to do." Carlos spoke with a small smile, his eyes flicking to Nicholai, Jill and Angie who perched on the couch across from them, watching them like a hawk.

Alice nodded and sat up rather slowly making room on the couch for Carlos, who settled himself, then laid Alice back, letting her use his lap as a pillow. "What happened to you guys?" Carlos asked, his eyes drifting over those he thought, or knew to be dead and he absently ran one hand through Alice's hair.

"Detroit was a cluster fuck." Alice began, playing with Carlos's free hand almost out of instinct. "I managed to hack into the Umbrella website using Dr. Ashford's laptop. I found out that they had Nicholai there. They sent a team to recover him, Angie, her father, and you." Alice began thoughtfully. "But as you know, only Nicholas was injured- well killed in Raccoon, so they let the rest of us go. He was on the helicopter with us though. They sealed him in one of the cabinets. It's why you didn't see him. Once I realized that Nicholai was still at the facility, I had to go back. He was set to be experimented on within the next week, and I couldn't let that happen, I knew how much you liked him."

Alice smiled gently. "It was supposed to be a clean in and out operation. But someone decided to tag along, and someone stowed away in the back." Alice flicked her gaze towards Angie, frowning as Sage padded in, and growled softly at the occupants of the room, minus Angie. "Your dogs infected."

Carlos frowned. "Impossible. She hasn't been exposed to anything for almost a month."

"Infected like me." Alice said, before going back to her story. "Angie and Jill got captured by some soldiers where they had parked the car, and by the time I broke out Nicholai, they had extreme leverage over me. They refused to let Angie and Jill go." Alice said sadly, and she squeezed Carlos's hand, closing her eyes. "They continued to experiment and run tests on me. They completely healed Angie. She doesn't have to live dose by dose anymore, and her muscles won't degenerate anymore. She still carries antivirus just in case she or a survivor we run across gets bitten. We broke out of the facility about two weeks ago. We killed everyone there. Issacs wanted to see who was superior, between Nicholai, Jill, and myself." Alice grumbled. "He put us all in a room together. He was a bit of a fool like that," Alice beamed a bit. "The A.I there was most helpful. She generated a few cases of antivirus. Chris keeps it in his truck."

"Chris?" Carlos finally asked and Alice nodded.

"Fellow experimentee. He's cooking in the kitchen now. We were bringing you and the convoy dinner. Anyways. We stayed down at the facility waiting for the white queen- the A.I. to finish putting the antivirus together and we picked up your broadcasts in the lab. You're really close to the facility actually. We decided to come here and meet up with the convoy. We just ran into you first."

"So Nicholai and Jill are infected too?"

"Yes. Nicolai's eyesight, reflexes and strength have improved. His hearing, and the ability to heal faster have increased, but he didn't bond with the virus naturally like I did so he's not as strong as me. I'm still the original super hero according to Angie. Jill is more on my level." Alice said, her eyes flicking towards the dog who hadn't taken her eyes off her for a moment, and she hopped up on the couch, sitting next to Carlos much like a statue, taking on the role of "guardian". Alice studied the dog for one more moment. "Where did you pick up the dog?"

"The dog belongs to KMart, she's about Angie's age." Carlos smiled fondly as he ruffled Sage's fur. "We found her in a KMart, and she didn't like her other name. She wanted a fresh start in life." Carlos explained after Alice had asked if that was really what they called the teenage girl, which caused him to laugh. "I think you guys will like her."

A loud crash in the kitchen made Carlos reach for his knife. "Mother Fucker!" The bellow came and Angie rolled her eyes scooting off the couch and heading into the kitchen, the puppy trailing after the girl. "Sorry Ang,you know I can't control it yet," The heard the man mumble, his head lowered as he entered the living room, mumbling something in her ear which caused her eyes to widen as she hit his chest lightly, his deep laughter filling the air, and he tensed as he saw the man on the couch. "I'm Chris Redfield," He introduced, taking a protective stance in front of Angie.

"Carlos Olivera," Carlos introduced, and watched as Chris slowly relaxed, whether it was from Carlos introduction, or from Angie taking his hand and making him sit on the floor in front of her, her hands gently running her fingers through Chris's closely cropped hair, rubbing his scalp.

"Chris has been having a problem controlling his temper. He tends to break things as he hasn't learned how to gauge his strength yet." Angie explained. "He also seems to have telekinesis that almost matches Alice's. He accidentally tossed Alice a few houses down when I scared him." Angie said apologetically, causing Chris's cheeks to flus.

"Claire mentioned you a couple times, younger or older brother?" Carlos asked curiously, studying Angie's interaction with the older man. Chris caught on to what Carlos was saying and he stiffened up.

"Twin. We're 25." Chris said, barely lacing the anger in his voice, and Angie rolled her eyes a bit, Alice caught Angie's look and couldn't help but laugh.

"It wasn't anyone's fault. It was an accident." Alice sat up again, this time much faster. "We can't stay here forever, and I take it Chris is done in the kitchen with the deer?" Alice directed her question to Angie who nodded. "Why don't we join up with the others then?"

**KMART CLAIRE**

"Claire have you seen Sage anywhere? I can't find her." Kmart asked the redhead, as she toted around her dog's food dish. Claire snapped her head up and studied the blonde.

"You try in with Carlos yet?" Claire said as she fiddled with some wires underneath the hood of the hummer, grease covering her tanned arms, and she winked at the blushing Kmart who seemed to be studying the redhead quite intently.

"N-no, I'll go check now." The blonde stuttered, shaking her head as she jogged off in the direction of the deuce, causing the redhead to chuckle and disappear under the hood once again, almost bumping her head on the hood once she heard Kmart's next few words. "Bastard swiped my dog for his run." Kmart huffed and leaned over the front of the vehicle watching what Claire was doing with a hint of interest.

"Well we did take a nap." Claire shrugged reaching over and wiping a greasy finger over K-mart's nose, causing the girl to groan.

"Not that we did much sleeping." Kmart began then frowned when she realized what the older woman had done. "Claire, you know that grease is a bitch to get off!" The teen whined, wiping at her face, causing the grease to spread and the teen grumbled and leaned forward, brushing her lips against the older woman's slowly, pressing her slender body against Claire's sliding her tongue over her bottom lip, seeking entrance to her warm mouth.

Claire let out a soft moan at the sudden attack, and she couldn't help but react to Kmart's touch, her arms wrapping around the slender teenager, pulling her even closer, her hands slowly sliding down until they landed on Kmart's ass, squeezing gently. Kmart let out the softest of whimpers, pulling away from the kiss, needing to breathe, but Claire didn't stop, her lips traveling over Kmart's neck, planting soft kisses and nibbles along the teen's sensitive skin.

"Claire! We have company!" Hunter, one of the men that was on duty shouted and Claire groaned as she pulled away from Kmart, wanting to kill who ever had interrupted them. Kmart pulled away with a sigh, and she closed the hood for the leader. There wasn't much that Claire would manage to get done tonight with the amount of new people that were coming, Kmart judged by the three vehicles that were pulling up to the camp.

Claire jogged over to meet the vehicles, checking her gun to make sure it was loaded in case she needed it, and Kmart trailed after Claire at a distance, her curiosity getting the better of her. Carlos stepped out of the first vehicle, a cop car. "Hey Claire, I found some old friends, and they'd like to join up with us. They brought some supplies, and dinner." Carlos said with a grin, as he sat on the hood of the car.

Claire raised an eyebrow. Most of the time survivors brought nothing with them. She assumed that they'd only had a few canned goods and she shrugged. "Sure, they have to be checked for bites though."

"They're clean." Carlos vouched and signaled for them to step from the cars, and Alice was the first to get out.

"Get your ass off my car Olivera." Alice grumbled at the soldier good naturedly, and Carlos leaned in and whispered something in her ear, which caused Alice to turn about 10 shades of red, and she buried her face in her hands, shaking her head, then mumbled about him being a tease. "Alice Abernathy." Alice introduced herself to the convoy leader with a smile and a firm handshake. "These are my friends, Jill Valentine former STARS member, Nicholai Ginovaef, former UBCF member, Angela Ashford, and Chris Redfield." Alice said, saving the best for last.

Claire tensed up at the last one, her jaw dropping and she blinked a couple of times. "Chris is here?" She asked finally, and Alice nodded. "He's actually right behind you." The blonde snickered, and rested her head on Carlos's shoulder. Her head hurt, but she wasn't going to complain, it wasn't like her.

Chris wrapped his sister in a hug, and burrowed his face in her neck. "Hey little sis." He said with a grin, which earned him a punch on the arm.

"By three whole minutes." Chris rolled his eyes a bit.

"But it's still three minutes." Chris grinned. Angie hung back a bit, and she sat next to Carlos, watching the scene in front of her, with a sad smile. A blonde teenager her age, ran over to Carlos.

"Where's Sage?" Kmart grumbled her arms crossed, at the soldier.

"Sleeping in the backseat of the car." Carlos grinned at the impatient teen and he opened the back door, the puppy hopping down from the seat and landing on the ground, sprinting up to Kmart, and the teen scooped up the dog.

"Stop kidnapping my dog." The teen grumbled as she burrowed her face into the pup's fur. "Hi, I'm Kmart." She introduced herself to the newcomers.

"Angie." Angie was the first to speak, sliding off the hood of the car.

"Want the tour? Claire's probably going to busy for the next week catching up with her brother." Kmart grumbled a bit.

"Sure." Angie finally decided. "Just let me tell Chris." The newest teenager said and she strolled over to where the two adults were talking and the man smiled and kissed Angie's forehead causing her to blush, and she returned over to where K-mart waited.

**AN: **Okay, there won't be many filler chapters for quite a while! Doesn't that guys excite you? It's going to focus on the relationships now (FINALLY!). I'm actually really, really excited now! My muse is jumping up and down and doing a happy dance . Until next time... ~BSH


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I only own Hunter and Sage! It's probably a good thing that I don't own the RE characters, because there'd be a more explicit version of the movie out .

AN1: Good to see you're still with me Kluve! Also for reminding me of my huge ass error. I skipped a chapter by accident, but that's okay I can incorporate it later and I'm going to try and repair my error without having to delete any chapters. I've never done a flashback, but there's a first time for everything right? You'll kind of be able to see where Angie fits into all this in this chapter. Also coming up in the near future, is more drama! Yay for drama (Not this chapter, and not the next one because I have to fix my mistakes, and play catch up for you guys!) I'm glad to see that I have someone to help keep me on track. The first two chapters are kind of naughty! You've been warned!

Kmart stretched out on the blanket, and she quietly watched the waves. The smell of salt was heavy in the air. The young blonde absolutely loved the ocean. It was one of her favorite places in the world. She unlaced her sneakers, and pulled off her socks and shoes and she began walking down the stretch of beach, savoring the feel of the warm sun bleached sand between her toes. Kmart began stripping down and she stepped into the warm ocean water. "Finally decided to join me, K?" Claire's voice caused the teen to spin around.

"I couldn't let you have all the fun now, could I?" The blonde replied with a small grin as she stepped closer to the redhead, and she pressed herself against Claire's body. "I missed you." The teen said softly, and she leaned forward slowly brushed her lips against hers ever so slowly, letting her hands glide over Claire's smooth skin, a thigh sliding between Claire's. The kiss deepened, and K finally pulled away when her lungs began to burn, from lack of oxygen. A loud moan came from the young blonde, and Claire grinned as she lightly squeezed one of the teens breasts. "Just a few kisses and I'm already about to cum," Kmart panted, her fingers sliding down Claire's spine as she rocked back and forth against Claire's thigh. She was so close she could almost taste it.

"K. Kmart. Kmart! Wake up you're going to be late for school!" Claire's voice and a shaking of the teen caused her to stir, grumbling rather loudly, and giving the redhead the stink eye. Kmart hated mornings. Especially this one. It was cold out, she was wet, and sexually frustrated. She was beyond wet if she was going to be honest. She was drenched, and her underwear was sticking to her. Kmart shifted discreetly in the seat, thinking for a moment.

"In case you haven't realized Claire," the teen began, speaking slowly as sat up and stared at the redhead. "This is a zombie apocalypse. There is no such thing as being late for school." The teen slid open the hummer door and she hopped down, adjusting her shirt and pants, before turning, and thumping Claire with a pillow hard.

Claire let out a cry of mock outrage and she chased Kmart through the camp, much to the amusement of many people who were already awake and going about their normal morning chores. "I'm going to get you, you little brat!" Claire declared as the teen took refuge behind Carlos, causing Alice to laugh at the teens antics.

"Carlos! Claire is picking on me!" The teen tattled to the soldier, sticking her tongue out at Claire playfully.

Carlos chuckled and he wrapped an arm around the teen ruffling her hair. "How many times have I told you not to provoke the beast?" Carlos inquired, his voice laced with amusement as he hugged both of his girls (Alice and Kmart) to him.

"Who are you calling a beast old man?" Claire raised an eyebrow, her arms crossed and Carlos shrugged a bit. If he hadn't gotten so close to Claire while taking care of Kmart with her, he'd probably be a little afraid of the redhead Kmart mused to herself. Carlos shrugged a bit, and kissed Kmart on the top of the head.

"If the shoe fits," Alice piped in, pulling an apple out of the small sack she had sitting on the ground and she rubbed it against her shirt before taking a bite out of the fruit.

"I'll show you old later." Carlos winked at Alice before pulling her closer and kissing her temple gently before releasing the teen who dropped down on her chair. Alice laughed softly and turned to face Kmart. She hadn't spent much time with anyone but Carlos the past couple of days.

"So what do you do around here for fun?" Alice asked the teen, her blue eyes settling on the younger blonde, who raised an eyebrow. Carlos sat down, and pulled Alice into his lap.

"I have Sage, I play guitar, I have my horse, movie nights with Claire and Carlos in one of the cars." The teen listed. "After Claire's stupid lessons that is." The teen grumbled again trying not to think of the text books waiting for her on the floor of the hummer. She absently wondered if Claire would buy her losing them, but seriously doubted it. Claire would probably end up getting her bigger, more difficult books if she tried pulling that stunt.

"And speaking of those stupid lessons, history today." Claire decided to go easy on the teen, who lit up excitedly and wrapped her arms around the convoy leader and kissed her cheek before darting off. Alice raised an eye at the retreating teen.

"It was originally supposed to be math day." Carlos explained, which caused Alice to laugh. "It's not her favorite subject. The other day she tried convincing Claire that she was sick." The adults laughed at that and Carlos tossed a few more pieces of wood on the fire.

"I was good at math, though I hated it." Alice wrinkled her nose. "Geometry was the easiest." She mused, offering the rest of her apple to the soldier. She didn't need to eat much human food, and when she did, she prefered fresh meat. Rare. Probably a side effect of the t-virus, she thought, her gaze flicking towards the foothills and Carlos squeezed her hand gently, understanding what it was she wanted.

"We'll go later," Carlos promised her, and Alice smiled, and nodded.

"Go where?" Claire asked, watching the two interact with slight interested. They seemed to know what the other was thinking and had silent conversations. It was actually a little scary, Claire finally decided as took advantage of the teen's exit and stole the chair K normally sat in.

"Hunting. There's some deer in the area, so I figured we'd take advantage of that, and save the canned goods you have stored up," Alice quietly explained, hoping she wouldn't be stepping on the redhead's toes.

"That's actually a good idea. Do you mind?" Claire asked softly, not wanting to take advantage of the new comer who'd already brought food when she first joined up with them a few days ago. Alice flashed the redhead a smile.

"Not at all, it's actually something I enjoy." Alice said, leaning against Carlos, her eyes locked on the fire. Kmart returned with her history book and frowned at Claire.

"Did you have to steal my chair?" K grumbled as walked around, crossing her arms and staring down at Claire. Claire's eyes widened as she took in K's clothes, or lack of them- a spaghetti strap tank top, and short cut off denim shorts Kmart got from only god knew where, Claire thought and her eyes narrowed at the teen for showing so much skin. If there was an attack there'd be no clothing to protect her from scratches… but those legs… Claire admired and bit her tongue for now as the teen dropped into her lap. "No bother. We can share." The teen proposed, and flipped open her text book.

Chris and Angie were the next to make an appearance, Angie yawning widely. "Long night?" Alice asked studying the pair. Chris shrugged and Angie just looked away her cheeks heating up, causing Jill to raise an eyebrow, studying Angie with a frown.

"I swear to god if you've-" Jill began, and Angie went wide eyed.

"It's not like that!" The girl quickly said, interrupting Jill. "It was that damn horror movie he put in when he thought I went to sleep." The teen shook her head slightly. " I told him I could handle it. I think I spent more time hiding under the blanket then watching it." The teen shrugged and climbed into Chris's lap. "Besides. I already told him what we talked about." Jill shook her head slightly, clinging to her cup of coffee.

Alice and Carlos had left to go hunting a couple hours ago, and Kmart sighed, sitting in the back of the deuce. Jill was lecturing Chris and Angie yet again. K snuggled into Claire, wrapping an arm around the redhead. "Where are we headed next?" Kmart asked softly, biting her bottom lip.

"Alice worked really hard on cleaning out an old umbrella facility. They have hot water and stuff still." Claire finally said. "And since it's umbrella there's going to be some defenses to keep out the infected. I just don't know if I'm keen on going underground." Claire confessed. "I don't like the idea of being trapped."

Kmart nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know if I'd like the idea of that either." Kmart admitted. "But it would be a nice place to go for a couple of days. I can't remember the last time I had a hot shower." Kmart wriggled her nose a bit. "I'd probably never want to leave after that." Kmart giggled a little and pressed a soft kiss to Claire's cheek.

Claire smiled and hugged the teen. "So what were you dreaming of this morning. You woke me up earlier." Claire lightly poked the teenager, slightly amused at the bright shade of red she turned and she listened to Kmart stutter.

"N-n-nothing." Kmart finally managed, and she looked away, clearly lying, and Claire let it go for now, and they both heard someone call for the blonde, who let out a sigh of relief. "Saved by the bell!" The teen grinned from ear to ear as she hopped out of the hummer, running across the sand to see what was needed of her, and Claire shook her head slightly. She had a lot of things to process, especially with her feelings for the younger girl.

Chris laid on his side, his head propped up on one arm as he studied the sleeping teenager, and he gently reached out, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. He couldn't pinpoint when his feelings for Angie shifted from friend and brother to romantic. The two were really close, and had been since Alice and Jill had found him in that cell in the prison. He thought he was going to die in there. But he certainly managed to prove himself, over and over again as he'd rescued them, and proved that he was a soldier.

Jill. That was the next thing that had upset him. Why would she think that he was pressuring Angie for sex? He'd never do that. Sure there was some making out and heavy petting, but there was no way that he'd have sex with her until they both decided that they were ready. Well, it was more Angie deciding that she wasn't ready, and Chris was comfortable with her decision. She was only 17 after all.

Deciding he'd spent enough time being a creeper and watching Angie sleep, he exited the back of his truck, and he made sure to tuck Angie in, wrapping the blanket around her and making sure that the girl was comfortable. He'd seen Alice and Carlos come back, dragging a buck on top of a tarp. They both carried a goofy "just got laid" smile and Chris shook his head. How they'd found time to hunt and fuck was beyond him, he thought, as he made his way over to where the pair stood over their bounty.

"Good job you guys." Chris said as he peered down at the deer, and he reached down, handing Alice his hunting knife. He was never fond of skinning animals, and Alice didn't seem to mind. They had the whole "You kill it, you skin it" rule. "Have you seen Nicholai hanging around?" Chris asked his sister who approached them.

"Um, last I saw him, he was getting breakfast for him and Jill, then he was going around learning about our shifts, and was asking to help with guard duty." Claire frowned and reached for her walkie talkie. "Hey guys anyone seen Nicholai? Claire out." Claire said and she waited for a few minutes.

"Hey Claire, Hunter here." A voice crackled. "Nicholai and Jill just went past the perimeter to go for a walk. Hunter out." Claire reclipped the radio to her belt, and then gave a half wave.

"I've got to go find a slippery teen." Claire said, before spinning on her heel and taking off in the direction of the news van in search of the Aussie and the teen girls. She was a little bored- well more than a little bored.

"Hey Claire, you up for a movie later tonight? We're all going to crowd around in the back of my truck on the couch and watch The Mummy." Carlos remembered.

"Again?" Claire groaned. "I'm pretty sure that I can quote over half that movie. I'm surprised that Kmart hasn't worn that movie out yet." Claire mumbled.

"She has, twice. I've got to get another copy, this one has a couple scratches, and I'd rather replace it sooner rather than later." Carlos grinned at the convoy leader. They had to have watched the movie at least four times a month, if not more since Carlos first played it for her when they found her in the store.

After dinner, Kmart found herself crowded in the back of the deuce, and she realized that she'd found something that she'd been looking for, for the longest time. Kmart yawned as she rested her head on Claire's shoulder, her eyes locked on the screen. She realized she'd found the family she'd been craving.

AN 2: I could probably continue to write out this chapter forever with interactions between everyone, but I'm a bit worried about my mother kicking me off the computer since I've already been on for more than an hour, so I'm going to end it here so you guys can get your fix. Next chapter will be flashbacks with Kmart and Claire, Alice and Carlos, and maybe some Chris/Angie!

~BSH don't you dream impossible dreams


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